For comparison, fungal diseases account for about 6.8% of the total number of deaths in the world. Coronary heart disease is the cause of 16% of all deaths, followed by stroke (11%) and lung diseases associated with smoking (6%). In the latter case, about one third of deaths are also caused by a fungal infection.
To arrive at these estimates published by Global incidence and mortality of severe fungal disease In the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, the scientist analyzed diagnosed and cured cases of fungal infections in 120 countries around the world, as well as those cases that could have been missed.
The expert notes Global deaths from fungal disease have doubled in a decade – new study that many people die because doctors are unable to diagnose a fungal disease, or they recognize it too late. But many deaths are also attributed to the lack of effective antifungal drugs. Tests based on fungal cultures detect only about a third of cases of fungal infections.
Unfortunately, as with antibiotic resistance, antifungal resistance is becoming a growing problem. Spraying crops with certain types of fungicides significantly increases the level of resistance to a group of antifungal agents known as azoles.
In severe cases of influenza, there is also a high probability of infection with the life-threatening fungal infection Aspergillus, which doubles the risk of death, even if the infection is diagnosed correctly and in a timely manner. There is also a close association between fungal allergies and severe or poorly controlled asthma.
Fungal diseases are not going anywhere. We are surrounded by them, and they live in our intestines and on our skin.
There are no fungal vaccines. Severe fungal diseases often occur when people are already ill with something, with some exceptions, when someone lives or works in moldy rooms. That is why accurate and timely diagnosis is extremely necessary and why we must take fungi very seriously, the scientist concluded.
