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Cutaneous Aspergillosis in Children and Adolescents

  • Fungal Infections of Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue (A Bonifaz and M Pereira, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This is a general review of the disease in this article, especially of the clinical features, diagnosis, new treatments and preventive measures.

Recent Findings

Diagnostic methods in pediatric population to confirm the diagnosis of aspergillosis and typify the etiologic agent are based on the use of molecular biology through PCR techniques. Currently, the treatment of choice for cases of primary cutaneous aspergillosis is liposomal amphotericin B or itraconazole alone or synergistically, uuse of voriconazole, posaconazole, or caspofungin is recommended as a second-line management.

Summary

Cutaneous aspergillosis is a rare condition in immunocompetent individuals and is more frequently observed in immunosuppressed patients. Considering the pediatric population as a specific case, it more commonly occurs in individuals suffering from a hemato-oncological disease. Asperillus flavus and A. fumigatus are the main pathogens responsible for primary and secondary (invasive) cutaneous aspergillosis, respectively. The clinical picture develops after direct inoculation of the fungus by contiguity of infected cavities or secondary to the presence of a distant mycotic focus that reaches the skin and its annexes by hematogenous dissemination. Owing to the rapid progression of the disease, a delay in initiating proper management impacts patient mortality.

In case of children and adolescents, clinical suspicion in individuals with risk factors should be the main argument for starting pharmacological management in a timely manner.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dermatology Department, Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez, Dr. Márquez 162, Col. Doctores. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, CDMX, Mexico

    J. A. López-Gamboa, M. E. Toledo-Bahena, A. Valencia-Herrera, K. A. Camargo-Sánchez & C. A. Mena-Cedillos

  2. Mycology Laboratory, Hospital General de México Dr. Eduardo Liceaga, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    Alexandro Bonifaz

  3. Dermatology Department, Hospital del Niño y del Adolescente Morelense, Emiliano Zapata, Mexico

    M. Duarte-Abdala

Authors
  1. J. A. López-Gamboa
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by López-Gamboa JA and Toledo-Bahena ME. The first draft of the manuscript was written by López-Gamboa J and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. E. Toledo-Bahena.

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Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Conflict of Interest

J. Alejandro Lopez-Gamboa, Mirna Toledo-Bahena, Alexandro Bonifaz, Adriana Valencia-Herrera, Karen Camargo-Sanchez, Mario Duarte-Abdala, and Carlos Mena-Cedillos declare no conflicts of interest relevant to this manuscript.

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López-Gamboa, J.A., Toledo-Bahena, M.E., Bonifaz, A. et al. Cutaneous Aspergillosis in Children and Adolescents. Curr Fungal Infect Rep 15, 41–48 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12281-021-00410-0

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