Fusariosis in Mexico: a ten-year retrospective series.

Fusarium species represent an opportunistic fungal pathogen in patients with an unrelated disease. The data in Mexico about Fusarium infections in humans are scarce. Here, we present a retrospective series of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of fusariosis in eight different hospitals in Mexico. The diagnosis of proven fusariosis was made according to European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer and the Mycoses Study Group Education and Research Consortium (EORT/MSG) criteria. Forty-nine cases were identified in our series. Most patients had burn injuries (49%) and 37% had hematological malignancy. Most patients had fire injuries (40%), followed by electric injury (8%), febrile neutropenia (10%), and pancytopenia (6%). Patients had skin and soft tissue involvement in 48%, followed by blood culture isolation and biopsies from different sites of the body (lung, sinuses, bone tissue, eyes). Most patients received voriconazole as a single drug therapy (30%), followed by a lipidic formulation of amphotericin B (20%) or conventional amphotericin B (16%). The most common combination therapy was triazole plus a lipidic formulation of amphotericin B (30%). Mortality related to Fusarium infection occurred in 22% of patients. Fusariosis is a serious threat. Burn injuries and hematologic malignancies represent the most common causes of infection in this small series from Mexico.