The initial choices of antifungal treatments are listed in Table 3 . Outcome at discharge was clinical improvement or resolution in 107 (84.2%) patients and death in 16 (12.6%). Nine patients were discharged early due to request from the family members, or referred to other hospital. Five of them were assessed within a month after discharge and four patients were lost to follow-up. The mean duration of treatment in the hospital was 15.5 days (SD 11). For diseased patients deaths occurred early in the course of treatment after an average of 6.6 days (SD 10), compared to survivors, who were treated in average 16.7 days (SD 10)(p < 0.001). Among 98 patients receiving itraconazole or ketoconazole, 85 (86.7%) had an improvement; 13 (13.3%) died. By comparison, among 26 patients receiving amphotericin B, 24 (92.3%) had an improvement; and two (7.7%) patients died. The mortality differences between the two treatment groups did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.43, χ 2test).