Case Report. Fungaemia due to Penicillium piceum, a member of the Penicillium marneffei complex

Due to the inability of most Penicillium species to grow at 37 degreesC, systemic non-marneffei infections are very rare in the human host. We describe a case of fungemia due to Penicillium piceum in a female patient, who died a few days after repeated isolation of this fungus from blood cultures. The species is a member of the section Biverticillata of Penicillium, as was confirmed by rDNA Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) sequence data, and hence may share virulence factors with P. marneffei.