Clinical spectrum of fusariosis from a tertiary care center in India- a retrospective study

Background and objectives: Fusarium spp. is an emerging pathogen that presents with varied clinical presentations but there are very few studies from India that elaborate on the spectrum of infection caused by the fungus. Hence, the present study was conducted in our institute to understand the clinical spectrum of fusariosis.

Materials and methods: The present study was a retrospective study conducted at a tertiary care institute, in Hyderabad, Telangana, India for four years from January 2018 to December 2022. All the patients with clinically significant isolation of Fusarium spp. from various samples were included in the study.

Results: There were 25 cases of fusariosis diagnosed during the study period. Fusarium was isolated predominantly from debrided tissue following road traffic accidents in 12/25 (84%) of the cases, nails in 3/25 (12%) and superficial leg ulcer in 1/25 (4%) of the cases. Speciation was done for four patients. Three were Fusarium incarnatum and one was Fusarium solani. The patients were treated surgically and with/without antifungal therapy and were discharged in a stable condition.

Conclusion: Traumatic injuries were the major cause of infections in the present study. As Fusarium is a virulent and highly resistant pathogen, an early suspicion and an appropriate diagnosis would lead to a better outcome in these patients.