Epidemiology of aspergillosis in hospitalised Spanish patients-A 21-year retrospective study

Abstract

Background: Aspergillosis is a serious infection, and in Spain, the influence of epidemiology and climate on the resulting expenses of aspergillosis is not well established.

Aim: A retrospective descriptive study using the Minimum Basic Data Set was performed on records of patients admitted to hospitals of the National Health System between 1997 and 2017 with a diagnosis of aspergillosis. The weather parameters were obtained from the State Agency of Meteorology from Spain.

Results: A total of 32,960 patients were identified, of whom 22,383 were men (68%). The mean age (±SD) was 61.1 ± 19.1 years. The mean incidence rate for all diagnoses was 3.54 cases per 100,000 person-years (95% CI, 3.50-3.57). The incidence rate in men was twice as high as that in women, 4.89 (95% CI, 4.82-4.95) vs. 2.24 (95% CI, 2.19-2.27) cases per 100,000 person-years (p > .001). The highest incidence rates were concentrated in northern Spain. One in four patients died (8,080 cases; 25%). There was a moderate positive linear association between rainfall and incidence rate (r_P = .508; p = .026). In contrast, the Pearson's correlation coefficient indicated a moderate negative linear relationship between temperature and incidence rate (r_P = -.447; p = .050). We observed a higher incidence in the months with higher humidity and rainfall.

Conclusions: Our study supports a high burden of aspergillosis in Spain, with an increase in cases in the past two decades. Additionally, the influence of climatological factors on the incidence of aspergillosis is highlighted. Despite preemptive treatment strategies, this infection still has a high mortality.

Keywords: Aspergillosis; Aspergillus epidemiology; deep fungal infection.