Identifying Risk Factors for CAPA in COVID-19 Patients

As society adapts to COVID-19, the study of the illness and its side effects is still crucial. To ascertain the prevalence of COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA), a severe invasive fungal infection of the lungs, in Japan, a team from Osaka Metropolitan University has combed through data.

Although there have not been many studies on CAPA in Japan, reports from other countries place the incidence somewhere between 3.8 % and 35 %.

The team that analyzed CAPA, particularly in patients with severe or critical COVID-19, included Graduate Student Mr. Yasutaka Ihara, Professor Ayumi Shintani, Professor Hiroshi Kakeya, Graduate School of Medicine Lecturer Waki Imoto. About 33,000 of the more than 150,000 COVID-19 cases the team examined for the whole 2020–2021 calendar year fell into the severe or critical category.

Of the 33,000 patients, 0.4 % to 2.7 % developed CAPA; older individuals, male, had respiratory conditions, underwent dialysis, or received blood transfusions were more likely to contract the illness. Additionally, statistical analysis revealed that patients with CAPA had a death rate that was twice as high.

The CAPA incidence rates obtained in this study were lower than those reported overseas. This result may be related to the fact that few facilities in Japan treated COVID-19 patients with CAPA in mind. Since early detection of CAPA and treatment with antifungal drugs is important, we hope these results will lead to improved screening of COVID-19 patients.”

Waki Imoto, Lecturer, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University

The study was published in the journal Mycoses.