Introduction: Since December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by SARSCoV-
2, has spread locally in Wuhan, China, and later on, a worldwide outbreak occurred. Invasive
fungal infections can cause complications in critically ill immunocompromised patients of COVID-19,
especially those admitted to intensive care units and who required mechanical ventilation. Candida
albicans have been the most common pathogenic species, followed by other Candida spp. Mannan is a
major component of the Candida cell wall and can be detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent
assay (ELISA) in blood and other fluids. Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is considered a lifethreatening
infection, especially among immunocompromised patients. COVID-19-associated
pulmonary aspergillosis has emerged as an important complication among patients in the intensive
care units. Galactomannan (GM) is a major cell-wall component of Aspergillus spp. and can be found in
body fluids. Blood GM can be detected by the enzyme immunoassay. The aim of the current study is to
assess the frequency of aspergillosis and candidiasis among COVID-19 patients in some hospitals in
Baghdad by using GM and mannan biomarkers.
Methods: During the period from February 2020 to May 2021, 175 COVID-19 blood samples of patients
were collected and a sandwich ELISA test was performed to detect GM Ag of Aspergillus spp. and
mannan Ag of Candida spp.
Results: Regarding C-reactive protein (CRP), significant differences were seen among Aspergillus/-
COVID-19 patients ( p ¼ 0.029). Regarding sex and age group, the results indicated that of a total of 175
adult patients with positive COVID-19, more than half of the patients were males. Regarding the
distribution of mannan Ag and GM Ag in COVID-19 patients, it was seen that out of the 175 patients, 167
(95.43%) Candida mannan Ag were negative and only 8 (4.57%) were positive, and 170 (79.14%)
Aspergillus GM Ag were negative and only 5 (2.86%) were positive. It was also seen that 2 patients
(1.14%) who had both Candida mannan and Aspergillus GM were positive and 173 (98.6%) were
negative. No statistically significant difference was seen in candidiasis and aspergillosis among
patients with COVID-19 regarding age group, sex, underlying chronic diseases (hypertension and
diabetes mellitus), and biochemical tests.
Conclusion: COVID-19 infections increased with age and were seen more in males than in females. The
percentage of infection with C. albicans and Aspergillus spp. among COVID-19 patients was not
significant, and this may come from the random collection of samples from patients with different
stages of illness. A significant correlation was found between Aspergillus GM Ag in COVID-19 patients
and the CRP test.
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2022
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