Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) associated with invasive pulmonary Aspergillosis in a patient with a low CD4+ T-cell count: A case report

Miyeon Kim; Sang Taek Heo; Gil Myeong Seong; Keun Hwa Lee; Jeong Rae Yoo

doi:10.4103/IJCIIS.IJCIIS_96_19

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) associated with invasive pulmonary Aspergillosis in a patient with a low CD4+ T-cell count: A case report

Int J Crit Illn Inj Sci. 2020 Sep;10(Suppl 1):53-56. doi: 10.4103/IJCIIS.IJCIIS_96_19. Epub 2020 Sep 16.

Authors

Miyeon Kim¹, Sang Taek Heo¹, Gil Myeong Seong¹, Keun Hwa Lee², Jeong Rae Yoo¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is associated with a high mortality caused by rapidly progressive multiple organ failure. SFTS virus induces immunosuppression, mediated by interleukin-10 production, reduction of CD3⁺ and CD4⁺ T cells, and cytokine storms, and this may lead to various complications in critical SFTS patients. Recently, there have been reports of cases of invasive pulmonary Aspergillosis (IPA) in patients with SFTS in the absence of predisposing factors of IPA. However, there is no known relationship between SFTS and mycosis. Here, we report a SFTS patient with a low CD4⁺ T-cell count and a high viral load, who developed possible IPA in the absence of common risk factors for mycosis. This case adds to the evidence that IPA may occur as a complication of SFTS.

Keywords: Aspergillosis; galactomannan; phlebovirus; pneumonia; severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

Publication types

Case Reports