| Resumo: | Aspergillus fumigatus is an environmental fungus responsible for causing severe invasive infections, especially in immunocompromised individuals. In 2020, during SARS-CoV-2 pandemics, a high number of cases of pulmonary aspergillosis was detected in COVID-19 patients, leading to the definition of CAPA (COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis). Patients with CAPA harbor many baseline prognostic factors with negative effects on survival, which might be further compromised by azole-resistant Aspergillus isolates. With the purpose of understanding the diversity of A. fumigatus isolates collected from CAPA patients, we applied a multilocus genotyping methodology (STRAf assay), using three trinucleotide microsatellite markers (99% discriminatory power) to 100 A. fumigatus isolates from different sources. From the isolates analyzed during the study, 85 multilocus genotypes were found. A high diversity of genotypes in CAPA isolates was observed. However, some of those isolates shared genetic similarity since they were collected from patients in the same hospital. Given the ubiquity of A. fumigatus, it is likely that patients may have shared the same contamination source within the hospital environment. In other isolates several multilocus genotypes were shared, reinforcing studies in the One Health Context. In conclusion, CAPA is yet poorly understood due to the lack of studies including isolates collected from COVID patients. Thus, molecular analysis of genetic and epidemiological relationship between those isolates may allow us to assess their potential origin and transmission routes.
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