Tendency in Pulmonary Aspergillosis Investigation during the COVID-19 Era: What Is Changing?

Giuseppina Caggiano, Francesca Apollonio, Mila Consiglio, Valentina Gasparre, Paolo Trerotoli, Giusy Diella, Marco Lopuzzo, Francesco Triggiano, Stefania Stolfa, Adriana Mosca and Maria Teresa Montagna
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Giuseppina Caggiano: Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Hygiene Section, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Francesca Apollonio: Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Hygiene Section, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Mila Consiglio: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Valentina Gasparre: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Paolo Trerotoli: Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Hygiene Section, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Giusy Diella: Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Hygiene Section, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Marco Lopuzzo: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Francesco Triggiano: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Stefania Stolfa: Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Hygiene Section, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Adriana Mosca: Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Hygiene Section, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
Maria Teresa Montagna: Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, Hygiene Section, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 12, 1-9

Abstract: Aspergillosis is a disease caused by Aspergillus , and invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is the most common invasive fungal infection leading to death in severely immuno-compromised patients. The literature reports Aspergillus co-infections in patients with COVID-19 (CAPA). Diagnosing CAPA clinically is complex since the symptoms are non-specific, and performing a bronchoscopy is difficult. Generally, the microbiological diagnosis of aspergillosis is based on cultural methods and on searching for the circulating antigens galactomannan and 1,3-β-D-glucan in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (bGM) or serum (sGM). In this study, to verify whether the COVID-19 period has stimulated clinicians to pay greater attention to IPA in patients with respiratory tract infections, we evaluated the number of requests for GM-Ag research and the number of positive tests found during the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods. Our data show a significant upward trend in GM-Ag requests and positivity from the pre-COVID to COVID period, which is attributable in particular to the increase in IPA risk factors as a complication of COVID-19. In the COVID period, parallel to the increase in requests, the number of positive tests for GM-Ag also increased, going from 2.5% in the first period of 2020 to 12.3% in the first period of 2021.

Keywords: aspergillosis; CAPA; invasive pulmonary aspergillosis; galactomannan; 1,3-?-D-glucan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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