Background
Immunosuppressive therapies proposed for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) management may predispose to secondary infections. We evaluated the association of immunosuppressive therapies with bloodstream-infections (BSIs) in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
Methods
This was an institutional review board-approved retrospective, multicenter, cohort study of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 over a 5-month period. We obtained clinical, microbiologic and laboratory data from electronic medical records. Propensity-score-matching helped create balanced exposure groups. Demographic characteristics were compared across outcome groups (BSI/no BSI) using two-sample t-test and Chi-Square test for continuous and categorical variables respectively, while immunosuppressive therapy use was compared using McNemar’s test. Conditional logistic regression helped assess the association between immunosuppressive therapies and BSIs.
Results
13,007 patients were originally included, with propensity-score-matching producing a sample of 6,520 patients. 3.74% and 3.97% were diagnosed with clinically significant BSIs in the original and propensity-score-matched populations respectively. COVID-19 patients with BSIs had significantly longer hospitalizations, higher intensive care unit admission and mortality rates compared to those without BSIs. On univariable analysis, combinations of corticosteroids/anakinra [odds-ratio (OR) 2.00, 95% confidence intervals (C.I.) 1.05-3.80, P value.0342] and corticosteroids/tocilizumab [OR 2.13, 95% C.I. 1.16–3.94, P value .0155] were significantly associated with BSIs. On multivariable analysis (adjusting for confounders), combination corticosteroids/tocilizumab were significantly associated with any BSI [OR 1.97, 95% C.I. 1.04–3.73, P value.0386] and with bacterial BSIs [OR 2.13, 95% C.I. 1.12–4.05, p-value 0.0217].
Conclusions
Combination immunosuppressive therapies were significantly associated with BSI occurrence in COVID-19 patients; their use warrants increased BSI surveillance. Further studies are needed to establish their causative role.
Histoplasma capsulatum causes a spectrum of manifestations from asymptomatic to fatal disseminated disease. Disseminated histoplasmosis is mostly seen in endemic areas among immunocompromised patients such as those with AIDS. Here, we present a patient living in a non-endemic area with previously undiagnosed diabetes mellitus, who presented with septic shock and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and was ultimately diagnosed with disseminated histoplasmosis. The patient rapidly recovered on administration of intravenous liposomal amphotericin followed by oral itraconazole. Uncontrolled diabetes may be a risk factor for disseminated or severe histoplasmosis in otherwise immunocompetent patients.
Acremonium is a saprophytic fungus mostly causing superficial skin, nail, or ocular infections after traumatic inoculation. However, it is being recently recognized as one of the opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients including neutropenia, malignancies, chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) and transplant recipients. To our knowledge there have been no reported cases of Acremonium infection, related to HIV or AIDS. We present a case of Acremonium pneumonia in a patient with no past medical history who was found to have AIDS.
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