Fungi detection was common in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

Evaluate the prevalence and identify species of concomitant fungal infection in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Patients with pulmonary TB may have fungal impairment of the respiratory system, which complicates the diagnosis and treatment of both diseases. Sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from 1343 pulmonary TB patients, treated at NMRC PhPI in 2018 - 2023 were examined using fluorescence microscopy (Calcofluor White with Evans blue), growth media culturing (Czapek Dox Agar) and mass spectrometry (MS, MALDI-TOF, Bruker, Germany). Fungal infection was detected in 166/1343 patients with pulmonary TB (12.4%). The most prevalent were Aspergilli (134/166; 81 %), among them in 120 patients one species was detected, while in 14 two species simultaneously were detected (table). In 32 patients other fungi were detected - Mucor spp (8/166; 5%), Rhizomucor spp (4/166; 2%), Lichtheimia corumbifera (4/166; 2%), Acremonium spp (6/166; 4%), Paecylomyces spp (6/166; 4%), Aureobasidium spp (2/166; 1%), Fusarium spp (2/166; 1%). The prevalence of fungal infection among tuberculosis patients was 12.4%; the most common were fungi of the genus Aspergillus . Whether this is a manifestation of a combined disease (mycosis and tuberculosis) or carriage of a fungal infection in patients with tuberculosis should be decided on a case-by-case basis, considering clinical, radiological manifestations and frequency of detection in the biological samples.