Abstract
Trying to widen the discussion on the risks associated with dental waste, this study proposed to investigate and genetically compare yeast isolates recovered from dental solid waste and waste workers. Three samples were collected from workers' hands, nasal mucosa, and professional clothing (days 0, 30, and 180), and two from dental waste (days 0 and 180). Slide culture, microscopy, antifungal drug susceptibility, intersimple sequence repeat analysis, and amplification and sequencing of internal transcribed spacer regions were performed. Yeast strains were recovered from all waste workers' sites, including professional clothes, and from waste. Antifungal susceptibility testing demonstrated that some yeast recovered from employees and waste exhibited nonsusceptible profiles. The dendrogram demonstrated the presence of three major clusters based on similarity matrix and UPGMA grouping method. Two branches displayed 100% similarity: three strains of Candida guilliermondii isolated from different employees, working in opposite work shifts, and from diverse sites grouped in one part of branch 1 and cluster 3 that included two samples of Candida albicans recovered from waste and the hand of one waste worker. The results suggested the possibility of cross-contamination from dental waste to waste workers and reinforce the need of training programs focused on better waste management routines.