Disease: fungal infections in immunocompromised patients

Enhancing antifungal stewardship: The educational and healthcare benefits of involving pharmacy students in audits

mycolabadmin

This study examined how pharmacy students could help improve the use of fluconazole, a common antifungal medication, in hospitals. Researchers found that nearly one-third of fluconazole prescriptions were not being used appropriately. By having pharmacy students participate in reviewing prescriptions under expert supervision, hospitals could better identify problems and educate future pharmacists, while the students gained valuable real-world experience in patient care.

Read More »

Comparison of the Filamentous Fungi Library v4.0 MALDI Biotyper Platform vs MSI-2 performance for identifying filamentous fungi from liquid cultures

mycolabadmin

This study compared two advanced technologies for identifying dangerous fungi in clinical samples. The MALDI Biotyper FFLv4.0 system identified about 96% of fungi correctly when using liquid culture samples, outperforming the MSI-2 database which identified about 78.5%. Both systems had difficulty with certain difficult-to-distinguish species, especially within Aspergillus and Fusarium groups, but performed well with Mucorales fungi. The findings suggest that continuous updating of these fungal identification libraries is essential for improving patient care.

Read More »

Fungal pathogens and symbionts: Living off the fat of the land

mycolabadmin

Certain fungi that live exclusively in or on hosts have evolved a clever survival strategy: they stopped making their own fatty acids and instead steal them from their hosts. This includes fungi that cause pneumonia in immunocompromised patients, yeasts on skin, and beneficial fungi that help plants absorb nutrients from soil. By examining how these fungi scavenge fatty acids from their hosts, scientists hope to develop better treatments and diagnostic tools for fungal infections.

Read More »
Scroll to Top