Invasive Fungal Diseases
Invasive Fungal Disease is the overlooked emerging health crisis |
Fungal infections are increasingly becoming a global health problem that is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates as well as devastating socioeconomic consequences.
The extensive use over the last decades of safer but fungistatic rather than fungicidal agents, particularly of the azole class, has led to the emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) fungal pathogens. This situation is now recognized by the WHO as a global health threat |
Incidence and mortality caused by select invasive fungi species |
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Disease (most common species) |
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Location | ![]() |
Estimated life-threatening infections per year |
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Mortality rates (% in infected populations) |
Aspergillosis (Aspergillus fumigatus) |
Worldwide | >200.000 | 30-95 |
Candidiasis (Candida albicans) |
Worldwide | >400.000 | 46-75 |
Cryptococcosis (Cryptococcus neoformans) |
Worldwide | >1.000.000 | 20-70 |
Mucormycosis (Rhizopus oryzae) |
Worldwide | >10.000 | 30-90 |
PCP (Pneumocystis jirovecii) |
Worldwide | >400.000 | 20-80 |
1) Fungal infections in humans: The silent crisis. Kainz et al. Microbial Cell, June 2020, Volume 7, number 6