Fungal Infection

Hospitalizations that involved fungal infections increased by more than 8% in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with previous years, researchers found.

HOUSTON — Data from a cloud-based surveillance system showed a substantial increase in cases of Candida auris in the United States during a recent 6-month period, researchers reported at ASM Microbe.

CHICAGO — In a Healio video exclusive, Sarah Khan, MD, explains that patients with advanced liver disease and concurrent fungal infection had worse acute-on-chronic liver failure and higher mortality than those with bacterial infection.

Health officials identified the first cases of severe tinea, or ringworm, caused by Trichophyton indotineae in the U.S., according to case reports published in MMWR.

SEATTLE — The first U.S. cluster of pediatric Candida auris cases was likely caused by shared mobile medical equipment that was not properly sanitized after being used for adult patients, an investigation found.

Three species of soil fungi, known to cause lung infections, have been found in U.S. states outside of what was historically accounted for by the CDC in 1969, according to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

With prolonged treatment durations, itraconazole proved efficacious in the treatment of patients with tinea corporis or tinea cruris, although many patients relapsed after successful treatment, according to a study.

Azole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus has become an increasing problem worldwide over the last decade.

Deaths from fungal infections increased in the United States in 2020 and 2021 compared with previous years, with Aspergillus and Candida infections driving COVID-19-associated fungal deaths, researchers found.

The 1-year incidence of invasive fungal infections among patients taking small molecule kinase inhibitors was as high as 10.6%, a study found. The incidence was 3% for patients on ibrutinib.