Treatment of the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains a complicated challenge, especially among patients with severe disease. In recent studies, immunosuppressive therapy has shown promising results for control of the cytokine storm syndrome (CSS) in severe cases of COVID-19. However, it is well documented that immunosuppressive agents ( e.g., corticosteroids and cytokine blockers) increase the risk of opportunistic infections. On the other hand, several opportunistic infections were reported in COVID-19 patients, including Aspergillus spp . , Candida spp . , Cryptococcus neoformans , Pneumocystis jiroveci ( carinii ), mucormycosis, Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Herpes simplex virus (HSV), Strongyloides stercoralis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Toxoplasma gondii . This review is a snapshot about the main opportunistic infections that reported among COVID-19 patients. As such, we summarized information about the main immunosuppressive agents that were used in recent clinical trials for COVID-19 patients and the risk of opportunistic infections following these treatments. We also discussed about the main challenges regarding diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19-associated opportunistic infections (CAOIs). Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10238-021-00751-7.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Tuberculosis, Cytokine storm syndrome, Mucormycosis, cytomegalovirus, aspergillosis, helminth infections, immunosuppressive therapy, herpes simplex virus, opportunistic infection, candidiasis, cryptococcosis, toxoplasmosis, strongyloidiasis,