COVID-19-Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis, March-August 2020

Pneumonia caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 emerged in China at the end of 2019. Because of the severe immunomodulation and lymphocyte depletion caused by this virus and the subsequent administration of drugs directed at the immune system, we anticipated that patients might experience fungal superinfection. We collected data from 186 patients who had coronavirus disease-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) worldwide during March-August 2020. Overall, 182 patients were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), including 180 with acute respiratory distress syndrome and 175 who received mechanical ventilation. CAPA was diagnosed a median of 10 days after coronavirus disease diagnosis. Aspergillus fumigatus was identified in 80.3% of patient cultures, 4 of which were azole-resistant. Most (52.7%) patients received voriconazole. In total, 52.2% of patients died; of the deaths, 33.0% were attributed to CAPA. We found that the cumulative incidence of CAPA in the ICU ranged from 1.0% to 39.1%.

Automated summary

This study found that most patients with coronavirus disease-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) are diagnosed shortly after admission, with the majority being treated in the ICU. Azole-resistant strains of Aspergillus fumigatus were common in patients, and voriconazole was the main treatment choice. The overall mortality rate was approximately 52.2%, with about one third of deaths attributed to CAPA.