Letters to editor

Candida auris is an emerging fungus that has gained great relevance as a global public health problem in a short time. The presence of Candida auris in 3 adult patients admitted to a national hospital of high complexity in the last quarter of 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is reported for the first time in Peru. The patients were hospitalized in the ICU, however, this germ was isolated in only 2 patients while they were hospitalized in the ICU. The patients had various comorbidities and long hospitalization times from admission to having their first culture positive for C. auris. All patients acquired a bacterial nosocomial infection at some point during their hospitalization and received broad-spectrum antibiotics. All isolates were resistant to Fluconazole. The hospital's infection control team reinforced containment measures and the Ministry of Health issued an epidemiolog...

 Objective: To identify laboratory results associated with the risk of death in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Material and methods: retrospective cohort study of patients admitted for COVID-19 at the Hospital Nacional EsSalud Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen in Lima, between March 21 and May 12, 2020. The laboratory tests included in the study were those of hospital admission. A Cox analysis was done to determine factors associated with death. Results: a total of 433 patients were included: 253 cases (58%) with positive RT-PCR and 180 cases (42%) with reactive rapid antibody test. And, 55% (240/433) and 59% (256/433) had leukocytosis and relative lymphopenia (≤10%), respectively. 56% (49/87) had D-dimer greater than two mg/L. However, higher than normal values were presented in 39% (152/393) for urea and 19% (77/397) for creatinine, as well as 73% (228/313) for aspartate aminotra...

The addition of Biofire® FilmArray® Blood Culture Identification panel 2 (BCID2) to the antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) could improve outcomes in bloodstream infections (BSI) of patients with febrile neutropenia (FN). A pre- and post-quasi-experimental single-center study was conducted at a reference hospital in Peru. Three groups were considered: patients with BSI before ASP intervention (control group), patients with BSI after ASP intervention (group 1), and patients with BSI after ASP intervention plus BCID2 PCR Panel implementation (group 2). Overall, 93 patients were identified (32 control, 30 group 1, 31 group 2). The median time to effective therapy was significantly shorter in group 2 compared to group 1 and control group, respectively (3.75 vs. 10 h, p = 0.004; 3.75 vs. 19 h, p < 0.001). No significant differences in terms of relapse of bacteremia, in-hospital mortalit...