Candida auris: A Latent Threat to Critically Ill Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019. Clin Infect Dis.
Rodriguez JY, Le Pape P, Lopez O, Esquea K, Labiosa AL, Alvarez-Moreno C. 02/11/2021
We read the article by White et al [1] with great interest. The proposed strategy will probably elucidate the true role of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)–associated invasive fungal infections, especially COVID-19–associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA). We have not found the same incidence of CAPA, probably due to the absence of an active search. However, we detected an increase in the number of fungemias in critically ill COVID-19 patients.
We report 20 cases of fungemia in hospitalized patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in 4 institutions in the northern region of Colombia from June to September 2020. We reviewed medical records and evaluated microbiological, demographic, and clinical variables. Mortality was evaluated at 30 days after isolation of the yeast. Pathogen identification was performed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Bruker Daltonik, Bremen, Germany). SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction for SARS-CoV-2.