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Fungi in water pose great risk to immune-compromised individuals

24 July 2023 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied

Yeast and other filamentous fungi, which pose a great risk to the health of immune-compromised or suppressed individuals, can be found in various drinking water sources such as ground, spring, surface, and tap water. These opportunistic pathogens may cause severe to fatal infections and can range from superficial to bloodstream or systemic infections.

This is according to Tyla Baker, a postgraduate student in the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS). She is studying for her MSc degree in Microbiology under the supervision Prof Carlien Pohl-Albertyn, National Research Forum (NRF) SARChI Research Chair in Pathogenic Yeasts. Prof Jacobus Albertyn and Dr Jolly Musoke are her co-supervisors.

Baker says the fungi in the water highlights that current water treatment processes are not efficient in their removal from water destined for household use. “These infections may not be harmful to people with healthy immune systems, but do pose a great risk to the health of immune-compromised or suppressed individuals.

Definite possibility to contract fungal infections from polluted water

“As the number of people with immune systems that are less functional (e.g. premature babies, elderly persons, people with cancer, diabetes or other serious diseases, HIV+ persons, transplant patients) increases, the number of people at risk of fungal infection also increases,” says Baker.

According to Baker, a previous study done in Brazil has identified yeast in bottled mineral water as well as municipally supplied tap water. The potential risk to contract fungal infections from polluted water sources is a definite possibility but more research is required to fully understand and determine the level of risk and the extent of its effects, she says. In the context of Mangaung, it is a concern that untreated water from sewage works as well as other sewage often leaks into the environment (as evidenced by numerous recent articles in local newspapers). These waters are potential carriers of large numbers of pathogens (including pathogenic yeasts/fungi) that may increase the risk to people coming into contact with it.

Baker says there is a good chance people are consuming these kinds of micro-organisms daily, considering that yeast and other filamentous fungi can also form biofilms inside pipes and spread as the impact of water flow dislodges these cells. “People will not even be aware that they are consuming these micro-organisms, some fungi are considered nuisance microbes and may cause a change in the smell and taste of water which may act as an indicator that the water is contaminated, but tests would be needed to confirm this,” she says.

The effects of consuming these fungi are still a grey area of research since the full extent of the consumption of yeast is still unknown, but there are studies being conducted to elucidate the full impact of this occurrence, says Baker. The risk depends on the immune status of the person, the specific species of yeast/fungus ingested, and the number of cells/spores ingested.

Culture-dependent and independent methods

“It is important to know that many pathogenic yeasts and other fungi are opportunistic pathogens, meaning they infect individuals whose immune systems are compromised due to various reasons such as illness (HIV/AIDS, cancer, TB etc.), undergoing organ transplants or even something as simple as using antimicrobial agents such as antibiotics.

“Taking this into account, along with the HIV/AIDS statistics in South Africa, which has a prevalence rate of 13,7% with approximately 8,2 million people in 2021 living with HIV, these individuals are more susceptible to infection by these opportunistic pathogens. Some of these pathogenic yeasts are also multidrug resistant or show resistance to readily available antifungals, such as fluconazole, which hinders the ability of healthcare professionals to efficiently treat infections to avoid fatal/severe outcomes,” explains Baker.

For her studies, she will be testing for fungi in water by using a combination of culture-dependent and independent methods to try and identify yeast present in wastewater. Baker says culture-dependent techniques will include culturing (growing) yeast on an appropriate medium while culture-independent techniques will include more intricate molecular work in the form of a multiplex PCR (polymerase chain reaction) which will enable her to identify an array of pathogenic yeasts present in samples.

According to Baker, people can stay safe by boiling water before drinking it, although temperatures above 100°C are required to kill most harmful microbes. Regular cleaning of shower heads and faucets help to prevent build-up which may act as a surface to which fungi will attach to and grow. Another way to stay safe is to maintain and regularly inspect water filters for damage and avoid contact with untreated sewage.

News Archive

UFS responds to concerns around high costs of higher education

2015-10-15

Dear Students

UFS responds to concerns around high costs of higher education

There is an understandable and shared concern among students in the country around the high costs of higher education. As you know, this also is a matter of deep concern on our campuses, which the University of the Free State (UFS) has made a priority in discussions with student leaders - and through new strategies to relieve the burden of costs on poor students and their families. In fact, in the past two weeks, the UFS leadership has again engaged students on the matter of fees in the future.

This is what we have done so far. We have maintained our position as one of the universities with the lowest tuition fees in the country. As you would have seen from recent newspaper reports on the cost of a degree at various institutions over the past five years, the UFS has had consistently low fees. This is not an accident; both the University Council and the executive leadership of the UFS is of one mind that we must offer a high quality education at minimum cost to all our students, despite the rising costs of operating a large multi-campus university with 30 000 students. Our commitment to you is to continue to keep those costs to students as low as possible, without compromising on the quality of education.

In addition, we took a decision earlier this year to become the first university to drop application fees for first-year students. We are proud of that achievement, since so many students fall at this first hurdle as they contemplate post-school education and training. We also waived registration fees for postgraduate students and now Research Master’s and PhD students can study tuition free under certain conditions. We raised more than R60 million from the private sector to enable talented students, who do not receive NSFAS funding, to complete their degree studies at the UFS. We set aside some of the university’s own funds to enable even more students to access finance for their studies. And we now have a special office set aside to counsel and assist students to apply for more than one scholarship to support their studies. The university does not follow a policy of maximizing exclusions. It has endeavoured and succeeded to turn around the majority of its potential deregistration cases. During 2015 we had 2 700 students at the risk of being de-registered, but our serious efforts resulted in only over 200 instances of exclusion we could not mitigate. As is the practice for the past few years, these students’ debt for 2015 has been reversed.

But, we do not only look for funds from outside to support our students. Last year we set up a Staff Fund to which ordinary members of the academic and support staff can contribute from their own, and sometimes very modest, salaries to enable Kovsie students to finish their degrees. We have volunteers who work on the No Student Hungry (NSH) Bursary Programme to raise funds for students who cannot afford a regular meal. We have an open line to rural and township schools to nominate poor students with good results for support by the Rector’s Fund, and some of those students are now in their final year of studies. And many of our staff support individual students in their homes and with their families, without being asked to do so. This is what we call the Human Project and it remains central to the way in which we deal with students.

We will of course continue to make representation to government, the private sector, and individuals to increase funding, especially for first-generation students, and for families where more than one student is at university. We will continue to take to the road to raise funds from companies and foundations to finance our students. We will expand on-campus opportunities for limited working hours for students who wish to earn some money to support their studies. As we have said often before, no student who passes all their courses or modules will be turned away simply because they do not have the funds to study.

The UFS discusses and agrees to fee increases with our students well in advance of the next academic year. None of these decisions are taken without the agreement of the student leadership and thus far these engagements, while tough, have always been done in good faith and with the students’ interests at heart.

It is important for you to know that, with the declining government subsidy, in real terms, and the expanding needs of our students, we will not be able to keep the university running without fees - even though this source of revenue comes mainly through scholarships and bursaries. We need to compensate staff, purchase new library books and renew journal subscriptions (which is very difficult given the low value of the Rand), upgrade computers and software, pay rates and taxes, purchase laboratory equipment, pay the water and electricity bills, expand internet services, upgrade campus security, and hire more academics to keep class sizes reasonably small. It is important for you to know that the university has managed to avoid increasing student fees as a result of much higher municipal rates. Our lecturers are not the highest paid in the country and financially we run a tight ship. We consistently achieve unqualified audits and we are known to be one of the universities that manage its NSFAS contributions with great efficiency. We do this because of our commitment to ensure that our students are able to enjoy a high quality of education on a stable campus where there is a deep respect for all campus citizens.

Despite all these efforts, the most important message we wish to communicate, is that the door remains open for continued discussion with student leaders as we continue to find ways of keeping university education open and accessible to all qualifying students. At the same time, the UFS leadership is involved in discussions with government about how to best manage the escalating cost of higher education for our dents.

Thank you for your support and understanding at this time and be assured, once again, of our commitment to students as a matter of priority to the university leadership.

Best regards

Prof Jonathan Jansen
Vice-Chancellor and Rector

University of the Free State
19 October 2015

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