Clinicopathological Features of Fungal Infections in COVID-۱۹ Patients: A Retrospective Study in Yazd, Iran

Patients with COVID-۱۹ due to unspecified medical treatment, hospitalization in the intensive care unit, need for invasive or non-invasive ventilation, prescription of broad-spectrum antibiotics, use of corticosteroids, and suffering from other underlying diseases, especially diabetes, are opportunistic to fungal infection. This study investigated the clinicopathology of fungal infections in patients with COVID-۱۹ in samples sent to the pathology department of Shahid Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd, Iran, from ۲۰۲۰ to ۲۰۲۲.Methods: This is an analytical cross-sectional study. The information related to patients with COVID-۱۹ and fungal infections who were referred to the pathology department of Shahid Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd, Iran, from March ۲۰۲۰ to March ۲۰۲۲ was analyzed. Age, gender, clinical manifestations, type of fungal infection, site of involvement, mortality, duration of hospitalization and hospitalization department, need for mechanical ventilation, and clinical symptoms were extracted from patients’ files and recorded in a researcher-made questionnaire. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS version ۲۶.Results: In this study, fungal infections were confirmed in ۵۳ patients with COVID-۱۹ based on pathological diagnosis. Among them, ۳۰ (۵۶.۶%) were men and ۲۳ (۴۳.۴%) were women. The average age of the patients was ۵۴.۲۶ ± ۱۸.۰۷ years. In the pathological examination of fungal samples, ۵۰ (۹۴.۳%) cases of mucormycosis, ۲ (۳.۸%) cases of Aspergillus, and ۱ (۱.۹%) case of simultaneous mucormycosis and Aspergillus were reported. Fungal infections involved the nasal cavity in ۳۱ (۵۸.۵%) cases and paranasal sinuses in ۱۸ (۳۴%) cases. After the treatment period, the patients were discharged, and ۱۴ (۲۶.۴%) patients died.Conclusion: We concluded that fungal infections following COVID-۱۹ infection are associated with serious complications and a high mortality rate; therefore, it is recommended that patients who are liable to suffer from fungal infections avoid overtreatment and treat them more carefully for COVID-۱۹ to prevent possible fungal infection.

کلیدواژه ها:

COVID-۱۹ ، Fungal Infection ، mucormycosis ، Epidemic