THE number of deaths triggered by nasty fungal infections has doubled in the last decade, an expert has revealed.
Antifungal resistance, plus doctors’ inability to recognise the signs of fungal diseases in time, is believed to be behind the surge in deaths.
Getty – ContributorAnnually 3.8million people die of fungal infections per year[/caption]
It’s now thought that fungal infections make up nearly 6.8 per cent of global deaths – with 3.8million losing their lives to the infections annually.
This is almost double the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recent estimate, which said 1.7 million people die each year as a result of fungal disease.
To put this in perspective, heart disease – the world’s biggest killer – is responsible for 16 per cent of the world’s total deaths, followed by stroke at 11 per cent.
Prof David Denning, an infectious disease expert from the University of Manchester, the new estimated death toll in an article in the Lancet Infectious Diseases, said previous estimates of fungal disease incidence and mortality were “imprecise”.
“I made a judgment about the proportion of fungal cases diagnosed and treated and those that are missed.
“While fungal disease diagnostics have improved greatly in the last ten to 15 years, both access to and actual usage of these tests is limited – and not only in low-income countries,” he wrote in The Conversation.
He added: “Many of these people die because their doctor does not recognise that they have fungal disease – or they recognise it too late.
“Unfortunately, as with antibiotic resistance, antifungal resistance is a growing problem too.
“Spraying crops with certain types of fungicides greatly increases resistance rates to a group of antifungal drugs, known as azoles.”
In most healthy people, the immune system can fight off the infection, but it can be life-threatening in already ill people or immunocompromised individuals.
‘They surround us’
The WHO last year warned that deadly and treatment resistant fungal infections are on the rise, naming 19 fungal pathogens that ‘pose a threat to humanity’.
Prof David cited lethal fungi, including candida, aspergillus, and black fungus, as some of the biggest killers.
“They surround us, and they live in our guts and on our skin,” he said.
Candida lives on human skin and in the gut.
It’s usually harmless but can cause infections when it begins to multiply uncontrollably.
If it travels across the gut wall into the bloodstream, it can cause sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to an infection.
Candida infections are also linked to diabetes or renal failure – or both – and can also take hold after major surgery or trauma.
Over 1.5million people are affected globally by life-threatening Candida infections, and nearly one million die from it annually.
Aspergillus is a common fungus found outdoors or indoors in the form of mould.
Once breathed in, it can affect the lungs and cause breathing difficulties.
Mucormycosis, or “black fungus”, is a rare but dangerous infection.
It’s caused by inhaling the spores of mould found on rotting bread and soil.
Each year, there are around 10,000 cases of mucormycosis globally.
The black fungus made headlines in 2021 after increasing numbers were reported in Indian patients hospitalised for Covid-19.
Many fungal pathogens, including candida, are becoming increasingly resistant to treatment.
Despite this, fungal infections receive very little attention and research resources.
Only four classes of antifungal medicines are available, and very few are in development.
Experts categorised 19 fungi based on public health impact and risk of resistance to antifungal drugs.
Of the 19 fungi included, four were identified as being of “critical” priority.
These included candida and aspergillus.
The WHO ranked 19 fungal priority pathogens based on threat to humanity