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The Burden of Fungal Infections in Ethiopia

Tafese B Tufa1,2, David W Denning3,4

  • 1Asella Teaching and Referral Hospital, College of Health Sciences, Arsi University, Asella P. O. Box 04, Ethiopia.

Journal of Fungi (Basel, Switzerland)
|November 28, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Fungal infections affect approximately 8% of Ethiopians annually, with tinea capitis common in schoolchildren. Invasive aspergillosis, cryptococcal meningitis, and Pneumocystis pneumonia are leading causes of fungal-related deaths, highlighting a need for improved diagnosis and surveillance.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Mycology
  • Infectious Diseases Epidemiology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Severe fungal infections (FIs) represent a significant, yet under-addressed, public health burden in Ethiopia.
  • Estimating the prevalence and incidence of various FIs is crucial for understanding their impact on the population.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To estimate the burden of severe fungal infections in Ethiopia using demographic data and literature review.
  • To identify the most prevalent and impactful fungal infections, including opportunistic infections in individuals with HIV and other common FIs.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized demographic data and PubMed literature searches to estimate FI burden.
  • Employed modeling with 2017 national HIV data for opportunistic FIs.
  • Estimated chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) burdens using prevalence of asthma, COPD, and tuberculosis incidence.

Main Results:

  • An estimated 8% of the Ethiopian population suffers from FIs annually.
  • Key infections include tinea capitis (7,051,700 cases in 4-14-year-olds), HIV-related FIs (9900 cryptococcal meningitis, 12,700 Pneumocystis pneumonia), and recurrent Candida vaginitis (1,469,000 women).
  • Invasive aspergillosis (IA), cryptococcal meningitis (CM), and Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) are identified as major causes of mortality.

Conclusions:

  • Fungal infections pose a substantial annual health burden in Ethiopia, disproportionately affecting schoolchildren.
  • Urgent improvements in the diagnosis and national surveillance of fungal infections are necessary.
  • Lack of CD4 count data hinders the identification of HIV patients at risk for opportunistic FIs.
Keywords:
Ethiopiaepidemiologyinvasive fungal infectionstinea capitis

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