Penicillium marneffei is an opportunistic dimorphic fungus causing infection in both immunocompetent and immunocompromisedpatients. P. marneffei infection has been recognized recently as a very common emerging fungal pathogen. Since relatively little is known about the epidemiological characteristics we performed a case-control study to evaluate the risk of acquiring P. marneffei infection among cancer patients. Out of 50 sputum samples from cancer patients. The control group included 20 randomly selected patients at MMCH&RI, Kanchipuram. The samples were processed according to standard protocol. Only 1 (2%) isolate of Penicillium marneffei were isolated from 50 samples. Out of 50 Cancer patients 22 (44%) were positive for tuberculosis infection. Among the control group only 3 (15%) were found to be positive for tuberculosis infection. Hence the present study shows that tuberculosis is a predisposing factor for fungal infections among immuno compromised patients.
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