Fatal Aspergillosis in a Patient with SARS Who Was Treated with Corticosteroids

Abstract

We report the case of a patient with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) who died of aspergillosis after prolonged treatment with corticosteroids. The patient was a 39-year-old male physician based at the intensive-care unit of a small hospital in Guangzhou, China; he had no concurrent medical illness. Many patients with SARS were admitted to the hospital where he worked during the eight weeks before April 4, 2003, when he presented with a sore throat and a low-grade fever (37.3°C). Five days later, he had a high fever (38.5°C) and a low leukocyte count (3.4 ×10⁹ per liter; 63.6 percent neutrophils and 26.2 percent lymphocytes), and he was admitted to the hospital with suspected SARS.