Health Care Providers' Testing Practices for Coccidioidomycosis and Histoplasmosis in Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia-United States, 2020

Kaitlin Benedict; Yiman Li; Noelle Angelique M Molinari; Brendan R Jackson

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofab020

Health Care Providers' Testing Practices for Coccidioidomycosis and Histoplasmosis in Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia-United States, 2020

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021 Jan 18;8(2):ofab020. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab020. eCollection 2021 Feb.

Authors

Kaitlin Benedict¹, Yiman Li¹, Noelle Angelique M Molinari¹, Brendan R Jackson¹

Affiliation

¹ Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Abstract

Laboratory testing is required to distinguish coccidioidomycosis and histoplasmosis from other types of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). In this nationwide survey of 1258 health care providers, only 3.7% reported frequently testing CAP patients for coccidioidomycosis and 2.8% for histoplasmosis. These diseases are likely underdiagnosed, and increased awareness is needed.

Keywords: United States; coccidioidomycosis; histoplasmosis; pneumonia; primary health care.

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America 2021.