candidemia – Page 3

The Impact of the Fungal Priority Pathogens List on Medical Mycology: A Northern European Perspective

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Fungal infections affect over a billion people worldwide but are often overlooked in healthcare. The World Health Organization recently created a priority list of dangerous fungi to help doctors and researchers focus their efforts. This review discusses how this list can improve diagnosis, testing, and treatment of fungal infections across Europe, while also highlighting the need for better training and awareness among healthcare workers.

Identification of fungal agents isolated from burn lesions using mycological and molecular methods in patients admitted to Velayat burn hospital in Rasht city during 2022–2023

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Researchers studied fungal infections in burn patients at a hospital in Iran and found that non-albicans Candida fungi, particularly a species called Candida parapsilosis, were the most common culprits. Using laboratory cultures and genetic testing, they identified 101 fungal infections out of 380 burn patients. Understanding which fungi cause these infections is important for doctors to choose the right treatment and improve patient outcomes.

Neonatal Invasive Candidiasis: Current Concepts

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Neonatal invasive candidiasis is a serious fungal infection affecting premature and very low birth weight babies. The types of fungi causing these infections are changing globally, with more resistant strains appearing, especially in lower-income countries. Treatment options are limited by this resistance, making prevention through hygiene and proper hospital practices increasingly important.

Caspofungin therapy in prosthetic valve endocarditis and candidemia due to itraconazole-resistant Candida glabrata (Nakaseomyces glabratus): A case report

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A 13-year-old boy developed a serious fungal infection on his replacement heart valve after recent surgery. The fungal infection was caused by a type of yeast called Candida glabrata that was resistant to the initial antifungal medication. After testing revealed resistance and biofilm formation, doctors switched to caspofungin, a stronger antifungal drug, and the patient recovered successfully.

Leveraging synthetic genetic array screening to identify therapeutic targets and inhibitors for combatting azole resistance in Candida glabrata

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Candida glabrata is a dangerous fungus causing serious infections that is becoming resistant to antifungal drugs. Researchers used a genetic screening technique to find genes that interact with drug resistance mutations and identified methotrexate (a drug already used for arthritis) as a potential partner for fluconazole treatment. When combined, these drugs work better together against resistant strains of the fungus, offering hope for treating these stubborn infections.

Do farnesol and tyrosol production in Candidozyma auris biofilms reflect virulence potential?

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Researchers discovered that a dangerous fungus called Candidozyma auris produces signaling molecules called farnesol and tyrosol in biofilms. These molecules appear to be linked to how dangerous the fungus is—strains that produce more of these molecules were more virulent in infection studies. Understanding these signaling molecules could help develop new strategies to fight this drug-resistant pathogen.

Antifungal stewardship in the UK: where are we now?

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Fungal infections are becoming more common and dangerous because some fungi are developing resistance to antifungal medicines. UK hospitals struggle to manage these infections due to lack of funding, staffing, and limited access to fungal testing services. The paper recommends creating regional fungal expertise centers and setting national standards to improve how antifungal medications are used and monitored across the country.

Ploidy plasticity drives fungal resistance to azoles used in agriculture and clinics

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Researchers discovered that a common agricultural fungicide can cause fungal cells to change their genetic structure in ways that make them resistant to medicines used to treat human infections. The fungus Candida tropicalis can switch to a haploid state (single copy of genes instead of two) when exposed to this agricultural chemical, and these altered cells become resistant to both agricultural and medical antifungal drugs. This explains how resistance that develops in agricultural settings can spread to clinical settings, creating a public health threat.

Candida krusei Empyema: A Lung Transplant Case and Systematic Review of the Literature

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Candida krusei is a dangerous fungus that can cause fluid buildup around the lungs (empyema), particularly in transplant patients. Unlike common fungal infections that respond to fluconazole, this species is naturally resistant to this drug, making it harder to treat. The fungus forms protective biofilms that shield it from treatment, requiring combination antifungal medications and sometimes surgery to drain the fluid and remove infected tissue for successful recovery.

Glycan microarray analysis of Candida-related antibodies in human and mice sera guides biomarker discovery and vaccine development

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Researchers developed a test using synthetic sugar molecules found on Candida yeast to detect antibodies in blood from infected patients and mice. They discovered that the immune system produces different antibodies at different stages of infection, starting with antibodies against certain sugars and later focusing on others. The study identified three specific sugar structures that could be used to create simple blood tests to diagnose Candida infections and potentially develop vaccines to prevent these serious fungal infections.

Disease: candidemia