Aspergillosis in Critically Ill Patients with and Without COVID-19 in a Tertiary Hospital in Southern Brazil.

The impact of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) on non-neutropenic critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICU) has been demonstrated in recent decades. Furthermore, after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 associated with pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) has become a major concern in ICUs. However, epidemiological data from different regions are scarce.

Optimization of a commercial Histoplasma galactomannan EIA test in a population from an endemic area of histoplasmosis in southern Brazil.

Background: Since 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends Histoplasma antigen detection for the diagnosis of disseminated histoplasmosis (DH) in people living with HIV (PLHIV).

Objective: Here we aimed to optimise the IMMY's Clarus® Histoplasma GM enzyme immunoassay (EIA), evaluating the best cut-off in the semi-quantitative (SQ-HGM EIA), also known as 'calibrator cut-off procedure'.

Methods: The optimization was done using the quantitative standard procedure (Q-HGM EIA), also known as 'standard curve procedure', as reference test.