The urge for early detection and effective therapy against COVID-19 fungal co-infection: A retrospective study

A conspicuous feature of COVID-19 is that the disease has become a pandemic in less than three months. Suppression of immune system, particularly reduction in CD4+T cells and CD8+T cells has led to the co-infection by other microbial pathogens. Among them, fungal co-infections are rarely identified and often ignored. Fungal co-infection has also been reported in MERS, SARS-CoV-1 and other viral infections as influenza. But from the reports of COVID-19, most cases of the fungal infections were observed to be fatal. This raises a serious concern on fungal pathogens causing co-infection in COVID-19. The fungal pathogens causing co-infections were found to be Aspergillus sp., Candida sp., Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Pneumocystis jirovecii, Histoplasma capsulatum. Cryptococcus sp.. Coccidioides sp. and Mucormycetes. The unidentified and untreated infection leads to death of the patient. Researchers all over the world are facing several difficulties in identifying and diagnosing fungal co-infections, as early detection and proper treatment can increase the chances of patient survival. The current review summarizes the occurrence of fungal co-infection among COVID-19 patients. The immunological imbalance, diagnosing methods and detailed explanation on fungal pathogens and combination therapy are discussed.