Mycoses . Prevalence of opportunistic invasive aspergillosis in COVID-19 patients with severe pneumonia

[tetano]

Mycoses


. 2020 Nov 20.
doi: 10.1111/myc.13219. Online ahead of print.
Prevalence of opportunistic invasive aspergillosis in COVID-19 patients with severe pneumonia


Gonzalo Segrelles-Calvo ^{1 2} , Glauber R de S Ara?jo ³ , Estefan?a Llopis-Pastor ¹ , Javier Carrillo ^{1 4} , Marta Hern?ndez-Hern?ndez ¹ , Laura Rey ¹ , Nestor Rodr?guez Melean ¹ , In?s Escribano ^{1 2} , Esther Ant?n ¹ , Celia Zamarro ¹ , Mercedes Garc?a-Salmones ^{1 4} , Susana Frases ³



Affiliations

• PMID: 33217071
• DOI: 10.1111/myc.13219

Abstract

Background: As the global coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) spreads across the world, new clinical challenges emerge in the hospital landscape. Among these challenges, the increased risk of coinfections is a major threat to the patients. Although still in a low number, due to the short time of the pandemic, studies that identified a significant number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who developed secondary fungal infections that led to serious complications and even death have been published.
Objectives: In this scenario, we aim to determine the prevalence of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) and describe possible associated risk factors in patients admitted due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.
Patients/methods: We designed an open prospective observational study at the Rey Juan Carlos University Hospital (Mostoles, Spain), during the period from February 1 to April 30, 2020.
Results: In this article, we reported seven patients with COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) who had a poor prognosis. Severely ill patients represent a high-risk group; therefore, we must actively investigate the possibility of aspergillosis in all of these patients. Larger cohort studies are needed to unravel the role of COVID-19 immunosuppressive therapy as a risk factor for aspergillosis.
Conclusions: As the pandemic continues to spread across the world, further reports are needed to assess the frequency of emergent and highly resistant reemergent fungal infections during severe COVID-19. These coinfections are leading a significant number of patients with COVID-19 to death due to complications following the primary viral disease.

Keywords: COVID-19; invasive aspergillosis; lung disease; opportunistic mycosis.