An overview of COVID-19 related to fungal infections: what do we know in one year of pandemia?

VITALE RG; AFELTRA J; SEYEDMOUSAVI S ; GIUDICESSI SL; ROMERO SM

BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY

SOC BRASILEIRA MICROBIOLOGIA

Año: 2022

1517-8382

In 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by CoV-2 virus became a pandemicworldwide, being the fast spread of the disease due to the movement of infected people fromone country to another, from one continent to another, or within the same country. Associatedcomorbidities are important factors that predispose to any fungal co-infections. Because ofthe importance of fungal infections in COVID-19 patients, the aim of this work was to collectdata of the more encountered mycoses related to patients undergoing this disease.Aspergillosis was the first COVID-19 related fungal infection reported, being A. fumigatusthe most frequent species for CAPA. Other fungal infections related include mainlycandidiasis and mucormycosis, being Rhizopus spp. the more prevalent species found.Influenza-associated pulmonary aspergillosis is well documented; thus, similar complicationsare expected in severe forms of COVID-19 pneumonia. Therefore, in patients with COVID-19, it is important to take special attention to the surveillance and suspicion of fungal coinfections that might worsen the patient´s prognosis.