Growing threat posed by fungal infections

Globally, over 300 million people of all ages suffer from serious fungal infections every year. Most serious fungal infections are ‘hidden’, occurring as a consequence of other health problems such as asthma, AIDS, cancer, organ transplant and corticosteroid therapies. All require specialised testing for diagnosis and delays or missed diagnosis often lead to death, serious chronic illness or blindness. While antiretroviral therapy of HIV infection is essential, many patients die of fungal disease before antiretroviral treatment, or in the first year of therapy. 

The founding president of the Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections (GAFFI), and professor of infectious disease in global health at the University of Manchester, Dr David Denning has previously described fungal disease as a ‘Trojan horse’ – presenting ‘a silent, unappreciated global catastrophe’. 

The importance of chronic and allergic fungal infections has been overlooked for years, yet they are likely to be responsible for over 500,000 deaths each year. AIDSrelated fungal infections are responsible for up to 700,000 deaths (nearly half the total AIDS deaths), and could be halved rapidly if diagnosis and treatment were made available immediately.