invasive aspergillosis – Page 6

Antifungal Agents in the 21st Century: Advances, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

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This review examines how doctors treat serious fungal infections and the growing problem of fungi becoming resistant to medications. The authors discuss different antifungal drugs, how they work, and why some fungi are becoming harder to treat. They emphasize that controlling fungal resistance requires coordinated efforts across hospitals, farms, and communities, especially since some agricultural pesticides are creating resistant strains that spread to sick patients.

Dual fungal endocarditis in a pediatric dialysis patient: First case of Aspergillus flavus and Candida parapsilosis co-infection

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A 13-year-old boy with kidney disease requiring dialysis developed a rare dual fungal heart infection caused by two different fungi simultaneously. Doctors diagnosed the infection using heart imaging, blood tests, and tissue examination, then treated him with antifungal medications and two heart surgeries to remove infected tissue and replace a damaged heart valve. Despite the extreme rarity and severity of this condition, the patient survived, which had never been reported in children before.

Clinical aspects and recent advances in fungal diseases impacting human health

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Fungal infections are becoming a major health threat, affecting over a billion people worldwide. The main problems are difficulty diagnosing these infections, increasing resistance to current medications, and limited treatment options. Doctors and the public need better awareness, and new antifungal drugs with different approaches are needed to effectively treat resistant infections.

Diagnostic Capacity for Fungal Infections in Tertiary Hospitals in Nigeria and Ghana – An Onsite Baseline Audit of 9 Sites

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Researchers audited nine hospital laboratories in Nigeria and Ghana to assess their ability to diagnose fungal infections. They found that most laboratories lack basic equipment like microscopes and trained staff for fungal testing. The study revealed critical gaps in infrastructure and resources needed to identify serious fungal diseases, highlighting the need for investment in laboratory capacity building in African healthcare systems.

Time- and temperature-dependent Pentraxin 3 stability in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples

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Researchers tested how stable Pentraxin 3, a protein marker for fungal infections, remains when stored under different conditions. They found that samples stored in freezers at −20°C or −80°C kept stable for months, making Pentraxin 3 a reliable marker for diagnosing serious fungal infections. However, samples stored at warm temperatures degraded quickly, so proper cold storage is essential for accurate test results.

Azole fungicides and Aspergillus resistance, five EU agency report highlights the problem for the first time using a One Health approach

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A major European health agency report warns that widely-used fungicides sprayed on crops to prevent plant diseases may be creating resistant fungi that can infect humans and make medical treatments ineffective. The study found that about 10,000 tonnes of these azole fungicides are used in Europe annually, and their residues accumulate in the environment where they can cause harmful fungi to become resistant to the same medicines doctors use to treat patients. The report calls for urgent action to better monitor this problem and prevent resistance through smarter use and regulation of agricultural fungicides.

Roles of the Sec2p Gene in the Growth and Pathogenicity Regulation of Aspergillus fumigatus

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Scientists studied a gene called Sec2p in a harmful fungus that causes serious lung infections in people with weak immune systems. When they removed this gene, the fungus grew more slowly and was much less dangerous to infected mice, with 67% of mice surviving compared to only 22% with normal fungus. The gene controls how the fungus breaks down its own cell parts for nutrition and repairs its cell wall, so blocking it weakens the fungus significantly.

Azole Resistance in Aspergillus Species Isolated from Clinical Samples: A Nine-Year Single-Center Study in Turkey (2015–2023)

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This study examined azole antifungal resistance in fungal infections from a Turkish hospital over nine years. Researchers tested 200 Aspergillus fungal isolates and found that 7% showed resistance to azole medications, with 11% of Aspergillus fumigatus showing resistance. The findings highlight the ongoing challenge of drug-resistant fungal infections and the importance of monitoring resistance patterns to improve treatment decisions for serious fungal infections.

Inappropriate treatment of pulmonary aspergillosis caused by Aspergillus flavus in susceptible pediatric patients: a case series

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This case series describes three children in Iran who developed serious lung infections caused by a fungal organism called Aspergillus flavus. Tragically, two of the three children died because their infections were diagnosed too late and they did not receive appropriate antifungal medications. The study emphasizes that children with weakened immune systems need quick diagnosis and proper antifungal treatment to survive these dangerous fungal infections.

Antifungal effect of soil Bacillus bacteria on pathogenic species of the fungal genera Aspergillus and Trichophyton

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Researchers found that certain bacteria called Bacillus, naturally occurring in soil, can effectively kill dangerous fungi that cause infections in humans. These bacteria produce compounds that are as effective or more effective than standard antifungal medications. This discovery could lead to new treatments for fungal infections, especially as fungi increasingly develop resistance to current drugs.

Disease: invasive aspergillosis