Influenza H1N1 boleh menyebabkan aspergillosis?

Terdapat kajian oleh saintis yang menunjukkan penyakit Aspergillosis boleh berkembang apabila seseorang pesakit mengidap penyakit influenza H1N1. Aspergillosis adalah penyakit radang paru-paru yang disebabkan oleh jangkitan kulat dari genus Aspergillus. Jangkitan boleh berlaku apabila spora kulat memasuki rongga pernafasan apabila kita bernafas dalam udara yang sememangnya teruk tercemar oleh kulat ini. Pesakit dengan sistem imun yang rendah seperti pesakit HIV juga terdedah kepada serangan aspergillosis.

Dalam kes ini, pesakit influenza H1N1 yang dirawat telah diberi terapi steroid untuk menstabilkan pernafasan mereka. Rawatan ini sebenarnya telah membuka ruang kepada serangan aspergillosis apabila steroid yang diberikan boleh menurunkan tahap imunisasi peskit tersebut. Artikel penuh seperti di bawah :

Influenza H1N1 (Swine Flu) is a risk factor for Invasive Aspergillosis

Sumber : http://aspergillusblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/influenza-h1n1-swine-flu-is-risk-factor.html

We have found a report of 2 patients suffering from the latest pandemic flu virus (H1N1) in 2009 who went on to develop invasive aspergillosis.
Both patients were well and had normal immune systems as far as is known, so would not normally have been at risk from invasive aspergillosis.

However, influenza is known to cause problems with the infected persons' immune system and can cause disruption of the tiny hairs on the surface of our lungs (cilia) that normally push infecting objects like mould spores out of our lungs. These patients can be thus primed for infection, but this isn't thought to be enough to render them at risk from invasive aspergillosis, there has to be a second wave of attack to allow aspergillus to penetrate our immune systems.

In both cases mentioned in the paper the patient was suffering breathing difficulties and was given steroid therapy to enable stabilization of their breathing. Unfortunately this also renders the patient a little more susceptible to infection as steroids can inhibit the immune system, and this may well have contributed to the outcome.

Influenza is not therefore the cause of invasive aspergillosis in these cases but if the patient is also receiving steroids then the authors of the paper conclude that the patient should be treated as at risk from invasive aspergillosis.