Challenges Faced among Immunocompromised Patients of Hematological Cancers with Invasive Fungal Infection

Objectives: Many acute hematological malignancies, including ALL and AML, have the Invasive Fungal Infection(IFI) as a side effect. The IFI raises hospital stays, treatment expenses, and the morbidity and mortality rate of primary diseases. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to determine the challenges faced by acute leukemia cases with Invasive fungal infection among hospitalized patients using clinical and laboratory records. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational hospital-based prospective study was conducted in our hospital for 6 months. The study included 50 patients with acute hematological malignancies who were admitted to the hospital. The data was entered into an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using SPSS 29.0. The p-values were obtained using the Chi-square test when applicable. Results: Twenty-Two Invasive Fungal Infections (IFI) cases were reported among the 50 patients of our study. This correlate with 42% of IFI prevalence. Six (27.27%) of the overall IFI instances were patients with proven IFI, fourteen (63.3%) had probable IFI, and two (9.09%) had possible IFI. There were differences in IFI by sex and age. Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) had a greater prevalence of IFI (47.86 %) than those with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) (37.03%). Conclusion: It is evident from the current study that IFI affected AML patients more than it did ALL patients. Invasive non-Albicans candidiasis exacerbated both types, but the AML group experienced more cases. The lungs of both groups were affected followed by bloodstream.