REVIEW article

Front. Microbiol., 06 July 2022

Sec. Virology

Volume 13 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.888452

Fungal Infection in Co-infected Patients With COVID-19: An Overview of Case Reports/Case Series and Systematic Review

  • 1. Department of Mycology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran

  • 2. Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

  • 3. Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

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Abstract

Fungal co-infections are frequent in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and can affect patient outcomes and hamper therapeutic efforts. Nonetheless, few studies have investigated fungal co-infections in this population. This study was performed to assess the rate of fungal co-infection in patients with COVID-19 as a systematic review. EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Web of Science were searched considering broad-based search criteria associated with COVID-19 and fungal co-infection. We included case reports and case series studies, published in the English language from January 1, 2020 to November 30, 2021, that reported clinical features, diagnosis, and outcomes of fungal co-infection in patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Totally, 54 case reports and 17 case series were identified, and 181 patients (132 men, 47 women, and 2 not mentioned) co-infected with COVID-19 and fungal infection enrolled. The frequency of fungal co-infection among patients with COVID-19 was 49.7, 23.2, 19.8, 6.6, and 0.5% in Asia, America, Europe, Africa, and Australia, respectively. Diabetes (59.6%) and hypertension (35.9%) were found as the most considered comorbidities in COVID-19 patients with fungal infections. These patients mainly suffered from fever (40.8%), cough (30.3%), and dyspnea (23.7%). The most frequent findings in the laboratory results of patients and increase in C-reactive protein (CRP) (33.1%) and ferritin (18.2%), and lymphopenia (16%) were reported. The most common etiological agents of fungal infections were Aspergillus spp., Mucor spp., Rhizopus spp., and Candida spp. reported in study patients. The mortality rate was 54.6%, and the rate of discharged patients was 45.3%. Remdesivir and voriconazole were the most commonly used antiviral and antifungal agents for the treatment of patients. The global prevalence of COVID-19-related deaths is 6.6%. Our results showed that 54.6% of COVID-19 patients with fungal co-infections died. Thus, this study indicated that fungal co-infection and COVID-19 could increase mortality. Targeted policies should be considered to address this raised risk in the current pandemic. In addition, fungal infections are sometimes diagnosed late in patients with COVID-19, and the severity of the disease worsens, especially in patients with underlying conditions. Therefore, patients with fungal infections should be screened regularly during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 patients with fungal co-infection.

Introduction

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that started as a local epidemic but evolved within a few months into a worldwide pandemic with high morbidity and mortality rates, and the World Health Organization declared it as a global epidemic on January 30, 2020 (Dos Santos et al., 2020; Gorbalenya et al., 2020). The prognosis of this disease is severe in patients with underlying conditions. Diabetes, hypertension, cancer, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, and mental disorders increased mortality. However, success in developing specific therapeutic against COVID-19 infection is still needed (Robinson et al., 2022). Therefore, the most effective way to deal with an epidemic is to prevent further infection. The elevated prevalence of mortality and infection in patients with COVID-19 can be due to natural immunity and replication of the virus in the lower respiratory tract, and also due to superinfections and secondary infections, resulting in severe lung damage as well as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (Zheng et al., 2003; Farhan et al., 2021). Patients with COVID-19 are found with co-infections with respiratory viruses, bacteria, fungi, and secondary infections that have been identified as a fatal predictor. From the outbreak of COVID-19, we found that fungal co-infection of patients with COVID-19 could significantly increase mortality rates (Yang S. et al., 2021). The significance of fungal co-infection in patients with COVID-19, however, especially in patients with severe and critical conditions, is still poorly understood (Yang et al., 2020). Invasive fungal infections, including aspergillosis and candidiasis, are frequent in hospitalized patients (Sadeghi et al., 2018; Jamzivar et al., 2019; Hughes et al., 2020; Nasir et al., 2020). Acute respiratory diseases, such as invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), are common in intensive care units (ICUs) and immunocompromised patients (Prattes et al., 2021). Fungal infections, before or after COVID-19, are capable of complicating COVID-19 diagnosis, treatment, and progression (Talento and Hoenigl, 2020). According to data obtained from other COVID-19 outbreaks [severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)], invasive aspergillosis and also other systemic fungal infections play a role in severe outcomes of patients in ICUs (Song et al., 2020). In addition, patients with COVID-19 with predisposing factors (mechanical ventilation, diabetes, and cytokine storm) were found with a dramatic increase in the incidence of opportunistic fungal infections (Silva et al., 2020; Song et al., 2020). In contrast, because of the complicated medical situations of the patients with COVID-19 and the improper collection of the clinical species, many fungal infections in these patients are misidentified (Silva et al., 2020). Researchers are facing several challenges in the diagnosis and identification of fungal infections. In this systematic review, we reviewed the case reports and case series with patients with COVID-19 presenting fungal co-infections to evaluate the various aspects such as symptoms, diagnosis, and the most frequent etiological agents of patients with fungal co-infecting COVID-19, treatment, and outcome.

Materials and Methods

Search Strategy

A comprehensive systematic literature search was conducted by reviewing original research papers published in Medline, Web of Science, and Embase databases. The following keywords were used for the search: “coronavirus,” “coronavirus infections,” “HCoV,” “nCoV,” “Covid,” “SARS,” “COVID-19,” “nCoV19,” “SARS-CoV-2,” “SARS coronavirus 2,” “2019 novel corona virus,” “Human,” “pneumonia,” “SARS,” “co-infection,” “Superinfection,” “fungus,” “mycosis,” “co-infect,” “secondary infection,” “mixed infection,” “Fungal infection,” “aspergillosis,” “CAPA,” and “upper respiratory” alone or in combination with “OR” and/or “AND.” The search included English language studies from January 1, 2020 to November 30, 2021. Then, articles were kept if the title and abstract contained discussion about bacterial, fungal, and/or respiratory viral co-infection in patients with SARS-CoV-2. The systematic review was performed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) instructions (Moher et al., 2010).

Ethical Statement

As this study was a systematic review, it did not require any ethics committee approval.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

All case reports/case series that were about the fungal infection among patients with COVID-19 in English were evaluated. They included adequate data for analysis, namely, country of origin, the number of patients with COVID-19, and the number of cases with fungal infections, fungal species/group, clinical signs, laboratory results, diagnostic techniques, outcomes, and treatment.

The following exclusion criteria were used: (1) only animal studies, (2) research on fungal infections only, (3) research on patients with COVID-19 only, (4) review articles, (5) meeting or congress abstracts, (6) editorials, (7) letters, (8) languages other than English, (9) meta-analyses or systematic reviews, (10) articles available only in abstract, and (11) duplicate studies.

Study Selection and Data Extraction

The obtained studies were merged, followed by removing the duplicates using EndNote X7 (Thomson Reuters, United States). Two authors (PB and MG) separately screened the studies according to their titles and abstracts, considering the exclusion and inclusion criteria of this study. The full texts were analyzed by a third author (SS). Data extracted included the first author’s last name, research type, publication year, country, number of patients with COVID-19, number of cases with fungal confection, co-infecting fungi, clinical symptoms, laboratory findings and outcomes, diagnostic methods, and treatment. The data were obtained by two independent individuals and validated by another investigator.

Quality Assessment

Quality assessment was performed by a checklist provided by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI).

Results

Characteristics of the Selected Studies

Our search yielded 3,248 records from three databases; we excluded 1,648 duplicates and screened 1,600 articles. At the abstract and title review stage, we excluded 1,420 articles, leaving 180 articles for full-text review. After reviewing the full text of 180 studies, eventually, 71 articles met the inclusion criteria and were subjected to the final assessment (Figure 1). Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of published data related to fungal co-infection in patients with COVID-19.

FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1

Flowchart of study selection for inclusion in the systematic review and meta-analysis.

TABLE 1

ReferencesPublished timeCountryType of studyPatients with COVID-19Patients with co-infectionDiagnostic method
of COVID-19
Diagnostic method of fungiFungiMean ageMale/Female
Rubiano et al., 20212020United StatesCase report11PCRDirect immunofluorescence and PCR tests of BALPneumocystis jirovecii361M
Werthman-Ehrenreich, 20212020United StatesCase report11PCRCultures of sinusMucor spp.331F
Chang et al., 20202020United StatesCase report11nrSerologic testsCoccidioides spp.481F
Shah et al., 20202020United StatesCase report11nrSerologic testsCoccidioides spp.481M
Mekonnen et al., 20212021United StatesCase report11nrHistopathology examination and fungal cultureRhizopus spp.601M
De Francesco et al., 20202020ItalyCase report11RT-PCRCulture and RT-PCR of sputumAspergillus fumigatus and Pneumocystis jirovecii651F
Meijer et al., 20202020NetherlandsCase report11PCRCulture of TA, detection of GM in TA, and BDG in serumAspergillus fumigatus (triazole-resistant)741F
Passarelli et al., 20202020BrazilCase report11RT-PCRBlood cultureCryptococcus neoformans751M
Posteraro et al., 20202020ItalyCase report11RT-PCRBlood culture and MALDI-TOFCandida glabrata (resistant all echinocandins)791M
Seitz et al., 20202020AustriaCase report11PCRCulture of the removed central venous catheterCandida glabrata721M
Ventoulis et al., 20202020GreeceCase report22RT-PCRBlood cultures, direct microscopy, germ tube testing, biochemical testing, molecularly and sequencingSaccharomyces cerevisiae76–732M
Do Monte Junior et al., 20202020BrazilCase report11PCRPathological examinationMucor spp.861M
Schein et al., 20202020FranceCase report11RT-PCRDetection of GM in sputum and blood, serology, serum PCRAspergillus spp.871F
Mehta and Pandey, 20202020IndiaCase report11RT-PCRNasal biopsy and cultureMucor spp.601M
Pasero et al., 20212021ItalyCase report11RT-PCRBronchial aspirate culture, microbiological and histopathological examinationCandida glabrata and Rhizopus spp.661M
Nasri et al., 20202020IranCase report s11RT-PCRDetection of GM in SerumAspergillus spp.421F
Placik et al., 20202020United StatesCase report11RT-PCRMicrobiological analysis of the intraoperative specimensRhizopus spp.491M
Prattes et al., 20212021AustriaCase report11PCRETA culture, Aspergillus lateral-flow device (LFD) in ETAAspergillus fumigatus701M
Ghelfenstein-Ferreira et al., 20212021FranceCase report11RT-PCRTA culture, quantitative PCRAspergillus fumigatus561M
Abdalla et al., 20202020QatarCase report22PCRLower respiratory cultureAspergillus niger (1/2), Aspergillus terreus (1/2), Candida albicans (2/2)662M
Dos Santos et al., 20202020BrazilCase report11RT-PCRTongue scrape cultureSaccharomyces cerevisiae671M
Sharma et al., 20212021AustraliaCase report11RT-PCRETA cultureAspergillus fumigatus661F
Antinori et al., 20202020ItalyCase report11RT-PCRBAL culture, detection of GM in serumAspergillus fumigatus731M
Al Osta et al., 20212021LebanonCase report11nrMicroscopic examination of the palate biopsyMucor spp.621M
Khatri et al., 20212021United StatesCase report11RT-PCRCulture of aspirate fluid along the anterior right upper chest wallRhizopus microsporus681M
Fernandez et al., 20212021ArgentinaCase report11Molecular testingMALDI-TOF in TA and detection of GM in serumAspergillus flavus and Candida lusitaniae851M
Haglund et al., 20212021DenmarkCase report11RT-PCRMorphological analysis, detection of GM, MALDI-TOF, and PCR of BALAspergillus fumigatus521M
Mohamed et al., 20212021IrelandCase report11RT-PCRCulture of ETA, detection of BDG in serum and GM in ETA and serumAspergillus fumigatus (triazole resistance) and Candida albicans551M
Dallalzadeh et al., 20212021United StatesCase report22Rapid PCRCulture of purulence from the eye and MRI of the sinonasal cavityRhizopus spp. and Mucor spp.38–462M
Merchant et al., 20212021United StatesCase report11PCRImmunofluorescence of BALPneumocystis jirovecii381M
Trovato et al., 20212021ItalyCase report11PCRDetection of BDG and GM in serum, microscopic and culture, MALDI-TOF and RT-PCR of bronchoaspirate sampleAspergillus niger731M
Waizel-Haiat et al., 20212021MexicoCase report11RT-PCRDirect exam and cultureLichteimia (Absidia) spp.261F
Basso et al., 20212021BrazilCase report11PCRSputum microscopy and detection of Histoplasma capsulatum antigen in the urine sampleHistoplasma capsulatum431F
Viceconte et al., 20212021ItalyCase report11PCRDirect immunofluorescence of BALPneumocystis jirovecii501M
Aldaas et al., 20212021United StatesCase report11RT-PCRChest CT, detection of GM in BALAspergillus spp.721M
Khodavaisy et al., 20212021IranCase report11RT-PCRFungal DNA extractionAspergillus tubingensis591M
Maini et al., 20212021IndiaCase report11RT-PCRMicrobiological studies on tissue biopsies (positive PAS and GMS)Rhizopus oryzae381M
Saldanha et al., 20212021IndiaCase report11Molecular testingHistopathological examinationMucor spp.321F
Legnani and Dusi, 20212021ItalyCase report11RT-PCRBAL culture, quantitative PCRAspergillus fumigatus and Rhizopus microsporus551M
Chaudhary et al., 20222021IndiaCase report11RT-PCRPus analysisMucor spp.211M
Alekseyev et al., 20212021United StatesCase report11RT-PCRRight sphenoid sinus secretions cultureMucor spp.411M
Kanwar et al., 20212021United StatesCase report11PCRSputum culture, MALDI-TOF, Sequence analysisRhizopus azygosporus561M
Revannavar et al., 20212021IndiaCase report11RT-PCRHistopathological analysis and fungal cultureRhizopus spp.NM1F
Ali et al., 20212021QatarCase report11PCRBlood Culture, MALDI-TOFTrichosporon asahii581M
Khan et al., 20202021United StatesCase report11RT-PCRETA culture and biopsy and BALAspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida krusei441F
Veisi et al., 20212021IranCase report22PCRHistopathological examinationsMucor spp.461F/1M
Imoto et al., 20212021JapanCase report11Molecular testingsputum culture, detection of GM and BDG in serumAspergillus fumigatus721M
Arana et al., 20212021SpainCase report22nrDebridement culture, culture from necrotic tissue, palate biopsyRhizopus oryzae, Mucor spp.552M
Ohashi et al., 20212021JapanCase report11PCROral swab cultureCandida albicans751M
Johnson et al., 20212021United StatesCase report11PCRBAL culture, detection of GM and BDG in serumAspergillus fumigatus and Rhizopus arrhizus791M
Sari et al., 20212021IndonesiaCase report11RT-PCRBlood cultureCandida tropicalis541F
Alobaid et al., 20212021KuwaitCase report22RT-PCRBAL and ETA cultureAspergillus niger (2/2)NMNM
Costache et al., 20212021RomaniaCase report11RT-PCRMicrobiologic examination of sputum sampleAspergillus flavus and Aspergillus fumigatus531F
Mehrabi et al., 20212021IranCase report11RT-PCRPathology evaluation of the paranasal sinus tissueMucor spp.511M
Mitaka et al., 20202020United StatesCase series44RT-PCRRespiratory culturesAspergillus fumigatus794M
Benedetti et al., 20212020ArgentinaCase series55RT-PCRDetection of GM in serum and respiratory samples, cultures of sputum, tracheal aspirateAspergillus fumigatus (5/5), Candida albicans (1/5)52.41F/4M
Wang et al., 20202020ChinaCase series88nrSputum or BAL cultureAspergillus fumigatus (8/8)738M
Lescure et al., 20202020FranceCase series51RT-PCRTracheal aspirates cultureAspergillus flavus472F/3M
Falces-Romero et al., 20202020SpainCase series1010RT-PCRSputum and BAL cultureAspergillus fumigatus (9/10) and Aspergillus nidulans (1/10)69.52F/8M
Martins et al., 20212021BrazilCase series88PCRNon-bronchoscopic lavage and blood cultureAspergillus flavus (1/8), Aspergillus fumigatus (3/8), Candida orthopsilosis (1/8), Candida albicans (1/8), Candida krusei (1/8), Candida lusitaniae (1/8), Cryptococcus neoformans (1/8)663F/5M
Singh V. et al., 20212021IndiaCase series1010RT-PCRNasal tissue cultureAspergillus flavus (7/10), Aspergillus fumigatus (3/10), Rhizopus arrhizus (7/10)49.24F/6M
Almeida et al., 20212021BrazilCase series22RT-PCRMALDI-TOF, sequencingCandida auris (2/2)65.51F/1M
Kalpana et al., 20212021IndiaCase series1515nrHistopathological examinationMucor spp.NM2F/13M
Singh V. et al., 20212021IndiaCase series1313RT-PCRPositive KOH mount, clinical featuresMucor spp.383F/10M
Nehara et al., 20212021IndiaCase series55RT-PCRHistopathological examination, culture of the sinonasal specimenMucor spp. (5/5)62.24F/1M
Bowalekar et al., 20212021IndiaCase series1010PCRCultureAspergillus flavus (2/10), Aspergillus fumigatus (2/10), Rhizopus arrhizus (6/10)55.44F/6M
Mishra et al., 20212021IndiaCase series1010nrHistopathological examinationMucor spp. (10/10)55.81F/9M
Teixeira et al., 20212021BrazilCase series42RT-PCRUrine cultureCandida albicans (2/2)68.753F/1M
Ashour et al., 20212021EgyptCase series88RT-PCRHistopathology and cultureAspergillus spp. (1/8), Mucor spp. (6/8)53.623F/5M
Roushdy and Hamid, 20212021EgyptCase series44PCRPathological assessmentMucor spp. (4/4)67.751F/3M
Flikweert et al., 20202020NetherlandsCase series76RT-PCRClinical, radiological, and mycological data, detection of GM in serum, sputum and BAL, tracheal or bronchial culture, ELISA is used for GM detectionAspergillus fumigatus742F/5M

Characteristics of included prevalence studies.

RT-PCR, real time-polymerase chain reaction; MALDI-TOF, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight; TA, tracheal aspirate; ETA, endotracheal aspirate; BDG, 1–3, β-D-glucan; GM, galactomannan; BAL, bronchoalveolar lavage; nr, not reported.

The Frequency of Fungal Infections Among Patients With COVID-19

The characteristics of the 71 included articles are shown in Table 2. Fifty-four case reports and seventeen case series highlighted fungal co-infection in 60 and 121 patients with COVID-19, respectively. Conforming to the results of these studies, 181 patients with fungal infections had been declared among 188 patients with COVID-19 from 23 countries (Table 2). Based on the data in this table, most of the patients in this study were reported from India (68 patients), United States (19 patients), Brazil (18 patients), and Spain/Egypt (12 patients for each), respectively. Among the cases with defined gender, 47 cases with fungal infections were women and 132 were men. The rate of co-infection in the age group of less than 50 years and more than 50 years was 23.7 and 66.2%, respectively. Table 3 shows more details of the subgroup analysis of the studies.

TABLE 2

Types of studyNumber of studiesNumber of patients with COVID-19Number of patients with fungal co-infection%
Case report546060100
Case series1712812194.53
ContinentVariablesNumber of patients with fungal co-infectionn/N*%
America4242/18123.2
Asia9090/18149.7
Europe3636/18119.8
Australia11/1810.55
Africa1212/1816.6
GenderMale132132/18172.9
Female4747/18125.9
nr22/1811.1
AgeLess than 50 years4343/18123.7
More than 50 years120122/18166.2
nr1818/1819.9

Frequency of fungal co-infection among patients with COVID-19 based on different subgroups.

*n, number of patients with any variable; N, total number of COVID-19 patients with fungal co-infections.

TABLE 3

ComorbiditiesVariablesNumber of patients with fungal co-infectionn/N*%
Obesity1515/1818.2
Hyperlipidemia77/1813.8
Hypertension6565/18135.9
Diabetes108108/18159.6
Ischemic disease88/1814.4
Metabolic acidosis44/1812.2
Diabetes ketosis44/1812.2
Smoker1010/1815.5
HIV33/1811.6
Urinary tract infection33/1811.6
Atrial fibrillation44/1812.2
Kidney transplantation55/1812.7
Heart transplantation22/1811.1
Heart disease22/1811.1
Depression11/1810.55
Kidney injury99/1814.9
Chronic liver disease11/1810.55
Liver cirrhosis11/1810.55
Renal failure88/1814.4
Clinical manifestationCough5555/18130.3
Fever7474/18140.8
Nausea22/1811.1
Dyspnea4343/18123.7
Tachypnea1818/1819.9
Vomiting55/1812.7
Fatigue77/1813.8
Tachycardia1111/1816
Headache2121/18111.6
Chest pain22/1811.1
Diarrhea1515/1818.2
Shortness of breath2323/18112.7
Malaise44/1812.2
Sinus congestion44/1812.2
Body ache33/1811.6
Muscle ache22/1811.1
Abdominal pain33/1811.6
Chills22/1811.1%
Sore throat44/1812.2
Fungal infections evidences in patients with COVID-19Pulmonary embolism44/1812.2
Proptosis1515/1818.2
Conjunctival chemosis88/1814.4
Periorbital edema1111/1816
Facial swelling and sinusitis1313/1817.1
Sternal wound11/1810.55
Encephalopathy11/1810.55
Lid swelling and maxillary44/1812.2
Soft tissue edema44/1812.2
Ophthalmoplegia1414/1817.7
Dry skin and mucus66/1813.3
Cerebral hemorrhage22/1811.1
Renal failure77/1813.8
Multi organ failure1212/1816.6
Sepsis shock1414/1817.7
Respiratory failure99/1814.9
Laboratory findingsLeukopenia33/1811.6
Lymphopenia2929/18116
Leukocytosis2222/18112.1
High ferritin3333/18118.2
High pro-calcitonin2020/18111
Low albumin1717/1819.3
Thrombocytopenia55/1812.7
High C-reactive protein6060/18133.1
High D-dimer2424/18113.2
Chest CT scanground-glass opacity4646/18125.4
bilateral infiltrates3636/18119.8
OutcomeDeath10199/18154.6
Recovered8182/18145.3
nr1212/1816.6

Summary of the case reports/case series findings.

*n, number of patients with a specific variable; N, total number of COVID-19 patients with fungal co-infections; nr, not reported.

Among 19 types of comorbidities, diabetes (59.6%), hypertension (35.9%), and obesity (8.2%) were the commonest comorbidities. Fever (40.8%), cough (30.3%), dyspnea (23.7%), and shortness of breath (12.7%) were the commonest clinical symptoms in COVID-19 patients with fungal infections. Laboratory assessment of patients indicated that elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) (>100 mg/L) (33.1%), high ferritin (>500 ng/mL) (18.2%), lymphopenia (<800 cells/μl) (16%), leukocytosis, and increased D-dimer (>1,000 ng/ml) (13.2%) were the most common findings (Table 3).

Computerized tomography (CT) scan has been reported in studies as a diagnostic method employed for COVID-19, and its findings are as follows: ground-glass opacification (25.4%) and bilateral infiltrates (19.8%). The CT results in the majority of the assessed patients were ground-glass opacification. We also considered the patients’ outcomes, and of 181 patients (mentioned in Table 2), 81 improved, 101 died, and in 12 patients, the outcome was unknown (Table 3).

According to the results of this study (Table 4), RT-PCR was the most common laboratory technique for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the study patients (43 articles). The most frequently used laboratory techniques for co-fungal detection within studies included 52 that used culture, 13 that used galactomannan (GM) and/or 1,3 β-D-glucan (BDG) detection test, 14 that used histopathology examination, and 14 that used matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) and/or molecular detection.

TABLE 4

COVID-19 detectionVariablesNumber of studies
RT-PCR40
PCR20
Molecular testing3
nr8
Fungal detectionCulture52
Detection of GM and/or BDG13
Pneumocystis antigen detection3
MALDI-TOF and/or molecular detection14
Histopathology examination14
Serologic tests3

Diagnostic methods for patients with COVID-19 and fungal infection.

RT-PCR, real time-polymerase chain reaction; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; MALDI-TOF, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight; BDG, 1–3, β-D-glucan; GM, galactomannan; nr, not reported.

From the fungal co-infections registered, the most common etiological agents were as follows: Aspergillus spp. (82 isolates), Mucor spp. (69 isolates), Rhizopus spp. (24 isolates), Candida spp. (21 isolates), Pneumocystis jirovecii (four isolates), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (three isolates), Coccidioides spp. and Cryptococcus neoformans (two for each), Trichosporon asahii (six isolates), and Histoplasma capsulatum and Lichteimia (Absidia) (one for each) were infections in patients with fungal-COVID-19 (Table 5). In the study articles, the drugs applied to treat COVID-19 patients with fungal infections were characterized into three categories, namely, antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal drugs (Table 6). Remdesivir (45.74%) and lopinavir/ritonavir (12%) were the most common antiviral drugs used. Among the antifungal drugs reported in Table 6, amphotericin B (50%) and voriconazole (22.16%) were widely used as an antifungal agent. Among the antifungal drugs reported in Table 6, amphotericin B (50%) and voriconazole (22.16%) were the most widely used antifungal agents for treating patients.

TABLE 5

Fungal typeFungal generaFungal speciesNumber of isolates
CandidaCandida albicans9
Candida glabrata2
Candida glabrata (all echinocandins resistant)2
Candida lusitaniae2
Candida tropicalis1
Candida krusei2
Candida auris2
Candida orthopsilosis1
AspergillusAspergillus spp.4
Aspergillus fumigatus50
Aspergillus flavus18
Aspergillus fumigatus (triazole-resistant)2
Aspergillus niger5
Aspergillus terreus1
Aspergillus tubingensis1
Aspergillus nidulans1
PneumocystisPneumocystis jirovecii4
HistoplasmaHistoplasma capsulatum1
RhizopusRhizopus microsporus2
Rhizopus spp.5
Rhizopus arrhizus14
Rhizopus oryzae2
Rhizopus azygosporus1
SaccharomycesSaccharomyces cerevisiae3
CryptococcusCryptococcus neoformans2
CoccidioidesCoccidioides spp.2
LichteimiaLichteimia (Absidia) spp.1
MucorMucor spp.69
TrichosporonTrichosporon asahii1

Fungal pathogens detected in patients with COVID-19.

TABLE 6

Antiviral drugAgentNumber of patients with co-infectionn/N* (%)
Remdesivir4343/94(45.74)
Lopinavir/ritonavir1212/94(12.76)
Oseltamivir77/94(7.44)
Darunavir/ritonavir33/94(3.2)
Hydroxychloroquine2727/94(28.72)
Dolutegravir/emtricitabine/
tenofovir alafenamide
11/94(1.06)
Bictegravir/emtricitabine/
tenofovir alafenamide
11/94(1.06)
Antibacterial drugAntibacterial drug8282/108(75.9)
Azithromycin2626/108(24.1)
Antifungal drugsAmphotericin B111111/185(60)
Anidulafungin88/185(4.3)
Voriconazole4141/185(22.16)
Isavuconazole66/185(3.2)
Micafungin66/185(3.2)
Fluconazole1010/185(5.4)
Caspofungin99/185(4.8)
Itraconazole33/185(1.6)

Agents used in the treatment of patients with fungal co-infection.

*n, number of patients with any variable; N, total number of COVID-19 patients with fungal co-infections.

Discussion

This systematic review is a detailed description of fungal co-infections in patients with COVID-19. There is a special concern for fungal infections, before or after COVID-19 exposure, which leads to treatment failure and deterioration of disease and imposes high healthcare costs on patients and hospitals. Overall, it is well established that all genders and ages are at risk for COVID-19 infection (Kalantari et al., 2020; Song et al., 2020; Talento and Hoenigl, 2020).

In this systematic review, we analyzed 181 fungal patients with COVID-19 from 23 countries, and co-infection in the age group of over 50 years was higher than under 50 years (66.2 vs. 23.7%) which is in agreement with studies that exhibited elderly patients have a higher risk of COVID-19 infection and mortality. Our data are in concordance with a study conducted in the United Kingdom on co-infection patients with COVID-19 symptoms, which reported that the highest prevalence of co-infection patients was in the age group of 55–81 years (Hughes et al., 2020). In this connection, Senok et al. (2021) found that the mean age of patients with co-infections was 49.3 ± 12.5 years in the United Arab Emirates. These observations indicated that declined immune system ability and increasing comorbid conditions with age could be a rational justification for the observed increased infection in older patients. The patients’ gender was assessed in 71 studies that indicated COVID-19 infection in men (72.9%) was higher than that of women (25.9%). A research performed by Senok et al. (2021) on patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United Arab Emirates notified that the most cases (84.2%) were men. Garcia-Vidal et al. (2021) found that the majority of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Spain were in the age of 62 years and also the most cases (55.8%) were men. In a single-center experiment performed by Jin et al. (2020), in China, out of 43 patients with COVID-19, 51.2% were found to be men. As a finding, it can be inferred that sex hormones and X chromosomes as factors involved in innate and adaptive immunity may have an important role in less susceptibility to COVID-19 infection among women. Overall, the high occurrence of many diseases in men compared to women could likely indicate a shorter life expectancy in this sex. Consequently, gender would be considered a risk factor for higher morbidity and severity in patients with COVID-19.

The disease pattern of COVID-19 can range from mild to life-threatening pneumonia associated with bacterial and fungal co-infections (Mehta and Pandey, 2020). Due to the associated comorbidities [e.g., diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)] and immunocompromised conditions, these patients are prone to develop severe opportunistic infections. The findings of this study indicated that diabetes, hypertension, and obesity were the most common comorbidities reported in patients with fungal co-infections and COVID-19. This result is in line with the results of Abdalla et al. (2020) which indicated that diabetes, hepatitis B, and hypertension are the common comorbidities in patients with COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis. Other reports showed that in a patient with diabetes and leukemia, Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated from BAL (Dallalzadeh et al., 2021). Published data have indicated that obesity is a risk factor for infection with COVID-19 (Albashir, 2020; Yang J. et al., 2021). Based on the evidence, the relationship between inflammation and hypertension is well documented. Patients with inflammatory responses increase the disease’s severity and complications, which make the infection worse. In line with our report, Mirzaei et al. (2021) in their review reported diabetes, obesity, and COPD as the most common underlying diseases in patients with COVID-19. Underlying factors could lead to the deterioration of the disease and make the scenario worse. However, the impact of comorbidities on COVID-19 must be carefully considered.

In this analysis, patients had various symptoms but fever, cough, dyspnea, diarrhea, and shortness of breath were the most common clinical symptoms among patients with fungal co-infections and COVID-19. So far, similar results have been reported in this context (Singhal, 2020; Team, 2020). One study of 53 cases of HIV co-infection with COVID-19 indicated that fever, cough, and respiratory and gastrointestinal problems were the most common clinical symptoms reported in patients with SARS-CoV-2-HIV co-infection (Patel et al., 2021). In another study performed by Galván Casas et al. (2020) in Spain, the most common clinical symptoms among patients with COVID-19 were found to be fever, cough, pneumonia, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, nausea, and dyspnea.

As stated in the literature, concurrent involvement of various microorganisms in patients with COVID-19 is a serious threat, especially in patients with underlying diseases, which can lead to exacerbation of complications and subsequently increase the mortality rate. Infection with this virus is related to immune dysregulation, overexpression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, impaired cell-mediated immunity, and decreased CD4 and CD8+ T-cells that can increase the risk of invasive fungal infections (Hughes et al., 2020; Rawson et al., 2020; Farhan et al., 2021). However, there is scarce information regarding fungal co-infections and COVID-19. Therefore, adequate information is required on the simultaneous infection in patients with COVID-19 in adopting more appropriate treatment regimens for these patients. As it is well documented, patients with COVID-19 are at a greater risk of developing fungal infections because of its effect on the immune system and because treatments for COVID-19 can weaken the body’s defenses against fungi (Pemán et al., 2020; Rawson et al., 2020). According to the evidence, the number of reports of fungal co-infections in patients with COVID-19 was steadily growing worldwide. Awareness of the possibility of fungal co-infection with COVID-19 is essential to reduce delays in diagnosis and treatment in order to help prevent severe illness and death from these infections. In this analysis, infection with Aspergillus spp., Mucor spp., Rhizopus spp., Candida spp., and P. jirovecii was the most recorded fungal co-infections in patients with COVID-19. Similar findings of the main fungal co-infections in patients with COVID-19, such as Aspergillus, were also reported by studies conducted in China and Spain (Pemán et al., 2020; Song et al., 2020). In other study performed by Hoenigl (2020) and Garcia-Vidal et al. (2021), the most fungal infections in patients with COVID-19 include aspergillosis, invasive candidiasis, and mucormycosis. A study conducted by Chen et al. (2020) indicated a high prevalence of opportunistic fungal pathogens, such as Aspergillus spp., Candida glabrata, and Candida albicans, in patients with COVID-19. In this connection, Peng et al. (2021) in their systematic review and meta-analysis noted a 0.12 pooled proportion of fungal co-infection in patients with COVID-19. In a recent meta-analysis of eighteen studies, Rawson et al. (2020) reported that 8% of patients with COVID-19 had bacterial/fungal co-infection. The findings of this study indicated that the most COVID-19-associated mucormycosis is found in India. A study conducted in 2021 found that more than 47,000 cases of COVID-19-associated mucormycosis were reported in just 3 months in India (Muthu et al., 2021). Uncontrolled diabetes and overuse of steroids for COVID-19 treatment are important risk factors.

Geological differences have influenced the occurrences of fungal co-infection. Based on this meta-analysis, the frequency of fungal co-infection in patients with COVID-19 was higher in Asia than in other continents. Peng et al. (2021) reported that the fungal co-infection rate was significantly higher in patients from Asia than non-Asian patients.

The use of proper diagnostic techniques is an important issue in the management of COVID-19 diseases. CT scan is considered a relatively high sensitive method for diagnosing cases of COVID-19. This diagnostic method can be a useful factor for diagnosis and assessment of the infection progression in patients with COVID-19. However, the aforementioned technique may not find the involvement of the lung in the first stages of the disease and may not reliably confirm COVID-19 in the patients. According to the CT scan findings obtained from case reports and case series research, ground-glass opacification and bilateral infiltrates were reported as the predominant features in patients with fungal co-infections and COVID-19. This finding was similar to the findings of Radpour et al. (2020) and Omidi et al. (2021).

Diagnosing fungal co-infections in patients with COVID-19 is a serious challenge for clinicians, and it requires detection by a comprehensive diagnostic test for the achievement of an effective treatment. According to the analysis performed in this study, culture was the most common diagnostic method for the presence of fungal infections. As presented in the current analysis, the frequency of fungi in research using non-molecular assays is higher than in studies using molecular assays. As specified by Song et al. (2020), laboratory tests, including direct microscopic, culture, histopathology, BDG, real-time PCR, PCR, and MALDI-TOF techniques, can be used for the detection of fungal co-infections in patients with COVID-19. Since this laboratory evidence can alert us related to the severity of the disease, therefore, it is important to use these methods in combination for the diagnosis of fungal co-infections in these patients.

This study has some limitations. Since only case reports and case series studies have been selected for this review, they are more likely to be biased than other studies. Case studies and case series are descriptive and describe the patient’s signs and symptoms. The prevalence and percentage of co-infection in them have not been studied. For this reason, it was not possible to perform meta-analysis calculations in this review. Therefore, the prevalence of fungal infections among patients with COVID-19 has not been calculated.

Conclusion

There have been many reported cases of viral, fungal, and bacterial infections associated with COVID-19. In this study, we studied the association between fungal infections and COVID-19. We discussed the clinical characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and mortality rate of patients with COVID-19 co-infected with fungal infections. Sometimes the diagnosis of fungal infections occurs later in patients with COVID-19, which causes the progression and severity of the disease. Both diseases have similar risk factors, such as old age, diabetes, immunodeficiency, HIV, and COPD. Finally, a regular program is recommended to detect fungal infections during the outbreak of COVID-19 and follow it up continuously to prevent the occurrence of these two diseases simultaneously.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Statements

Author contributions

SS, MR-A, and MG designed the study. PB, MG, and MN performed the search, study selection, and data synthesis. SS and MG wrote the first draft of the manuscript. MN, MR-A, and SS revised the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Funding

This study was financially supported by a research grant from the Research Deputy of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (Grant No. 30923). The funding agency had no role in the design of the project, work execution, analyses, interpretation of the data, and manuscript writing and submission as well.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Summary

Keywords

COVID-19, co-infection, fungal infection, systematic review, Aspergillus

Citation

Seyedjavadi SS, Bagheri P, Nasiri MJ, Razzaghi-Abyaneh M and Goudarzi M (2022) Fungal Infection in Co-infected Patients With COVID-19: An Overview of Case Reports/Case Series and Systematic Review. Front. Microbiol. 13:888452. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.888452

Received

02 March 2022

Accepted

03 June 2022

Published

06 July 2022

Volume

13 - 2022

Edited by

Matthaios Papadimitriou-Olivgeris, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Switzerland

Reviewed by

Raquel Sabino, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Portugal; Tong-Bao Liu, Southwest University, China

Updates

Copyright

*Correspondence: Mehdi Goudarzi, Mehdi Razzaghi-Abyaneh, ,

This article was submitted to Virology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Microbiology

Disclaimer

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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