CIDRAP Analysis of a nationally representative sample of electronic health record (EHR) data shows aspergillosis diagnoses increased by more than 5% annually in the United States from 2013 through 2023, US researchers reported late last week in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.
Aspergillosis is an infection caused by breathing in spores of Aspergillus, a common mold that’s ubiquitous indoors and outdoors. While most people don’t get sick from inhaling Aspergillus, it can cause severe and deadly infections in people who have lung disease or are immune-compromised (such as cancer patients and organ transplant recipients), with an overall death rate of 20%. Recent data also raise concerns that rising resistance to antifungal medications is making treatment more difficult.
Globally, there are an estimated 250,000 invasive aspergillosis and more than 3 million chronic pulmonary aspergillosis cases annually, but US trends are unclear because of the lack of surveillance for the disease. Previous studies of Aspergillus-associated infections in the United States have been limited to specific forms of the disease, inpatient populations, or high-risk groups, according to a team led by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley.