Fungal infections are especially dangerous for covid-19 patients, CDC study warns

Patients admitted to hospital with covid-19 were more likely to die if they also had a fungal infection, a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found.1“Covid-19 infection is a substantial risk factor for certain fungal infections, particularly those caused by invasive moulds, likely because of covid-19 related immune system dysregulation and immunosuppressive therapies,” the researchers wrote in Emerging Infectious Diseases.During the pandemic patients dually infected with covid-19 and a fungal infection had 48.5% mortality, compared with 12.3% in patients who had only fungal infections.Dual covid-19 and fungal infections led to longer hospital stays, higher rates of intensive care treatment, more use of invasive mechanical ventilation, and more deaths, regardless of the specific fungal pathogens involved, the study said. It has called for better surveillance of fungal diseases, especially during respiratory virus pandemics.Fungal infections are costly for US healthcare, totalling about $6.7bn in 2018. Hospital admissions involving…
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