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373294

A case study of fungal diversity and virulence factors in COVID-19 patients at Al-Muthanna Hospital in Iraq

Article

Last updated: 23 Dec 2024

Subjects

-

Tags

Fungi
Human Microbial Interactions
Medical Microbiology
Microbial Enzymes
Virology

Abstract

This study examined the presence and diversity of fungal taxa in the eyes and noses of COVID-19 patients. We collected sixty samples from COVID-19 patients and recovered about 30 fungal isolates. Six species of fungi were identified as Aspergillus niger (40%), A. flavus (23.33%), A. parasiticus (13.33%), Alternaria alternata (10%), Fusarium oxysporum (10%), and Candida albicans (3.33%), respectively.  We initially isolated A. niger from the pulmonary system. Its virulence factors were more prominent than those of other taxa isolated from the eyes, suggesting a significant risk to the patients. We studied the serum immunoglobulin (IgG and IgM) levels of COVID-19 patients and controls. The results showed that a week after infection, the IgG level was 12.74 AU/ml, significantly higher than the healthy control, which ranged from 12–15 AU/ml for negative and 0.73 for positive. During the first week of infection, IgM reached 3.1 AU/ml, and in the fourth week, IgG rose to 53.63 AU/ml, whereas IgM levels fell to 0.73. These findings provide valuable information on COVID-19 patients' immune responses and how they evolve over time. Our study also compared COVID-19 patients' WBC levels to those of the control group. The median was 40, with 10% of patients having low WBC counts and 50% having high ones. Lymphocyte counts differed significantly between 47.5% (low count) and 17.5% (high count). Patients had normal neutrophil counts, with 5% having low counts and 45% having high counts, like the control group. Monocyte, eosinophil, and basophil counts were likewise similar to those in the control group.

DOI

10.21608/mb.2024.373294

Keywords

Aspergillus niger, Co-infections, Fungal pathogens, Immunocompromised patients, pandemic, Virulence factors

Authors

First Name

Huda

Last Name

Hashim

MiddleName

R.

Affiliation

Department of Biology, College of Basic Education, University of Al-Muthanna, Iraq.

Email

hudaraheem@mu.edu.iq

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Wissam

Last Name

Kazem

MiddleName

J.

Affiliation

Department of Biology, College of Basic Education, University of Al-Muthanna, Iraq.

Email

wissam.juad@mu.edu.iq

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Ali

Last Name

Kadom

MiddleName

K.

Affiliation

Department of Biology, College of Basic Education, University of Al-Muthanna, Iraq.

Email

ali.khalil@mu.edu.iq

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

9

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

47475

Issue Date

2024-06-01

Receive Date

2024-05-19

Publish Date

2024-08-11

Page Start

160

Page End

167

Print ISSN

2357-0326

Online ISSN

2357-0334

Link

https://mb.journals.ekb.eg/article_373294.html

Detail API

https://mb.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=373294

Order

373,294

Type

Original Article

Type Code

502

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Microbial Biosystems

Publication Link

https://mb.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

A case study of fungal diversity and virulence factors in COVID-19 patients at Al-Muthanna Hospital in Iraq

Details

Type

Article

Created At

23 Dec 2024