Eighty Years of Mycopathologia: A Retrospective Analysis of Progress Made in Understanding Human and Animal Fungal Pathogens (original) (raw)
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Growing Significance of Non-Dermatophytic Fungi in Cutaneous Disorders of Humans and Animals
Fungi are versatile groups of eukaryotic organisms that have the potential to infect plants, humans and animals including birds. They can invade any organ of the body i.e. from skin to brain. Cutaneous mycoses, caused by dermatophytes, yeasts, and non-dematophytic fungi, are important from public health and economic point of view; and are generally encountered both in medical and veterinary clinical practice. The cases of cutaneous mycoses are encountered in immunocompromised and also in immunocompetent subjects. The infection mostly occurs in sporadic form but rarely, small outbreaks are also observed. The growth of non-dermatophytic fungi on the cutaneous and external parts of the body of human beings and animals causes many dermatological problems. Non-dermatophyte fungi can colonize and invade the keratin of skin, nail, and hair. The natural infection is reported in humans, and also in a number of animal species. The source of infection in most cases is exogenous. The transmission occurs through the advent of the organism via superficial trauma, lacerated injury or punctured wound because of fungal infected objects from saprobic surroundings where these organisms exists as saprophytes. The symptoms depend on the species of fungus and health status of the host. The direct demonstration of the fungal agent in clinical specimens and its isolation in pure and luxuriant growth still remains the gold standard of diagnosis. A variety of chemicals and drugs are available to treat fungal dermatitis. Treatment depends upon the extent, site and severity of infection. Limited information is available on non-dermatophytic fungi affecting humans and animals. Therefore, researches, communications and thorough reviews are needed on non-dermatophytic fungi, which are implicated in cutaneous mycoses of humans as well as animals.
Journal of Applied Microbiology, 2021
Fungal infections are still underappreciated and their prevalence is underestimated, which renders them a serious public health problem. Realistic discussions about their distribution, symptoms, and control can improve management and diagnosis and contribute to refinement of preventive actions using currently available tools. This article represents an overview of dermatophytes and endemic fungi that cause infections in humans and animals. In addition, the impact of climate change on the fungal spread is discussed. The endemic fungal infections characterized in this article include coccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis, blastomycosis, lobomycosis, emergomycosis and sporotrichosis. Moreover the geographic distribution of these fungi, which are known to be climate sensitive and/or limited to endemic tropical and subtropical areas, is highlighted. In turn, dermatophytes cause superficial fungal infections of skin, hairs and nails, which are the most prevalent mycoses worldwide with a high economic burden. Therefore, the possibility of causing zoonoses and reverse zoonoses by dermatophytes is highly important. In conclusion, the article illustrates the current issues of the epidemiology and distribution of fungal diseases, emphasizing the lack of public programmes for prevention and control of these types of infection.
Morbidity and Mortality Due to Fungal Infections
Mycotic diseases are global in distribution, but maximum cases are recorded from tropical and subtropical countries. Mycoses are important from public health and economic point of view. Globally, 800 million people in world have suffered from one or other types of fungal diseases. Aspergillus, Candida, Cryptococcus and Pneumocystis are important opportunistic fungi responsible for high mortality, especially in immunocompromised hosts. The source of infection is exogenous, and infection is mainly acquired by inhalation of infectious fungal spores from the saprobic environment. The demonstration of fungal agent and its isolation from clinical specimens is still considered the gold standard the diagnosis of mycotic disease. Several topical and systemic drugs are available for the management of disease. Continuous public health education programme about the growing role of fungi in human diseases is recommended. It is emphasized that routine application of Pal's sunflower seed medium and Narayan stain will help the mycologists in the study of fungal infections. The development of safe, potent, and cheap chemotherapeutic agents are imperative for the management of mycoses, which cause life threatening disease. There is a need to undertake more comprehensive and systematic studies on the growing role of fungi in human health.
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Fungal diseases have emerged as an important cause of morbidity and mortality, especially among immunocompromised patients. Pathogenic fungi have evolved an array of virulence factors to survive within the host and to outwit immune defenses. Fungi may cause a wide range of diseases in humans that range in extent from superficial to disseminated infections. Generally, the site of infections classifies the type of fungal disease, which can be divided into superficial, cutaneous, subcutaneous and systemic. In addition, the fungal virulence factors determine whether the infection will become established in the host. A primary pathogen may infect an immunologically normal host, whereas, an opportunistic pathogen requires some compromise of the host immune defenses in order for the infection to become established. This article covers the main fungi that are responsible for the increase of the fungal infections.
Emerging Animal-Associated Fungal Diseases
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The Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections (GAFFI) estimates that fungal diseases kill around 150 people each hour, and yet they are globally overlooked and neglected. Histoplasma and Talaromyces, which are associated with wildlife, cause systemic infections that are often lethal in patients with impaired cellular immunity. Dermatophytes that cause outbreaks in human hosts are often associated with domesticated animals. Changes in human behavior have been identified as a main cause of the emergence of animal-associated fungal diseases in humans, sometimes caused by the disturbance of natural habitats. An understanding of ecology and the transmission modes of causative agents is therefore essential. Here, we focus on fungal diseases contracted from wildlife and domesticated animals, their habitats, feces and carcasses. We discuss some basic fungal lifestyles and the risk of transmission to humans and illustrate these with examples from emerging and established diseases.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2016
Fungi cause more than a billion skin infections, more than 100 million mucosal infections, 10 million serious allergies and more than a million deaths each year. Global mortality owing to fungal infections is greater than for malaria and breast cancer and is equivalent to that owing to tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. These statistics evidence fungal infections as a major threat to human health and a major burden to healthcare budgets worldwide. Those patients who are at greatest risk of life-threatening fungal infections include those who have weakened immunity or have suffered trauma or other predisposing infections such as HIV. To address these global threats to human health, more research is urgently needed to understand the immunopathology of fungal disease and human disease susceptibility in order to augment the advances being made in fungal diagnostics and drug development. Here, we highlight some recent advances in basic research in medical mycology and fungal immunology that are ...