Confronting and mitigating the risk of COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus caused a wide spectrum of disease in healthy individuals, as well as those with common comorbidities [1]. Severe COVID-19 is characterised by acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) secondary to viral pneumonitis, treatment of which may require mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation [2]. Clinicians are alert to the possibility of bacterial co-infection as a complication of lower respiratory tract viral infection; for example, a recent review found that 72% of patients with COVID-19 received antimicrobial therapy [3]. However, the risk of fungal co-infection, in particular COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA), remains underappreciated.

Source: European Respiratory Journal - September 30, 2020 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Armstrong-James, D., Youngs, J., Bicanic, T., Abdolrasouli, A., Denning, D. W., Johnson, E., Mehra, V., Pagliuca, T., Patel, B., Rhodes, J., Schelenz, S., Shah, A., van de Veerdonk, F. L., Verweij, P. E., White, P. L., Fisher, M. C. Tags: Editorials Source Type: research