Background: Untreated HIV infection can lead to profound immunosuppression and increase susceptibility of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) to aspergillosis.
Objectives: Reporting the burden and natural history of aspergillosis documented in PLHA admitted in five medical centres in Brazil.
Patients and methods: Clinical, epidemiological and laboratory data were collected in all sequential cases of proven or probable aspergillosis documented in PLHA hospitalised in five medical centres between 2012 and 2020.
Results: We enrolled 25 patients ageing between 23 and 58 years (mean = 39) including 11 patients with invasive aspergillosis (IA) and 14 with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA). The prevalence rate of aspergillosis was 0.1% of 19.616 PLHA. Overall, 72.7% of patients with IA exhibited CD4 < 100 cells/mL and 42.8% of patients with CPA exhibited CD4 count >200 cells/mL. Most patients had a history of tuberculosis, especially those with CPA (85.7%). IA was documented after a mean of 16.5 days of hospitalisation, mainly in critically ill patients exposed to corticosteroids and broad-spectrum antibiotics. In the CPA group, a positive culture (71.4%) and radiological alterations were the most frequent findings supporting their diagnosis. Episodes of IA were mostly documented by tissue biopsies. Crude mortality rates were 72.7% and 42.8% in patients with IA and CPA, respectively.
Conclusions: Despite being considered an unusual complication in PLHA (0.1%), IA should be considered in patients with profound immunosuppression and pneumonia refractory to conventional therapy. CPA should be investigated in PLHA with chronic deterioration of pulmonary function and previous diagnosis of tuberculosis.
Keywords: chronic pulmonary aspergillosis; fungal pneumonia; human immunodeficiency virus; invasive aspergillosis; people living with HIV/AIDS; pulmonary infections.
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