Posts Categorized: Uncategorized

The prestigious Donald Mackay Medal has been awarded to Professor Ahmed H. Fahal. The medal is awarded annually, in alternating years by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTMH) and by the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH), during the Annual Meeting which this year was held at the Royal College… Read more »

PARIS – An article published in Le Monde brings to public attention the deadly threat that fungal infections pose to human health, food security and wildlife. It presents burden of disease statistics compiled by GAFFI and includes a quote from Professor David Denning, highlighting their key role in this area. The article emphasises the crucial… Read more »

Both acquired through the lungs, TB from other people, histoplasmosis from disturbed soil are both potentially fatal in advanced HIV disease. Now Antoine Adenis and colleagues from INSERM and Centre Hospitalier de Cayenne, Cayenne have modeled the annual incidence of both infections throughout central and South America. For 2012, 6710 to 15 657 cases of… Read more »

Currently 45% of TB diagnosis is only clinical and not confirmed with tests. Up to 20% of these diagnoses are incorrect. A common missed diagnosis is fungal lung infection. The most common of these is chronic pulmonary aspergillosis or CPA. The treatment of TB and CPA treatment is completely different and untreated CPA has an… Read more »

Around 138 million women are affected by a distressing but treatable fungal infection world-wide, according to a research review by University of Manchester scientists. And the incidence of recurrent thrush, warns lead researcher Dr Riina Rautemaa-Richardson, is set to rise to an estimated 158 million people by 2030. The team from The University of Manchester… Read more »

GAFFI has elected to appoint Professor David Denning as its Chief Executive and Ms Emma Orefuwa as Chief Executive – Kenya. David has decided to take a more active role in implementing GAFFI’s strategy.  He will now take the role as Chief Executive, which he combines with his clinical, research and teaching work in Manchester… Read more »

LONDON – 95 experts from 27 countries meeting in April 2018 in Kampala, Uganda, agreed consensus recommendations for the WHO on which diagnostic tests should be considered ‘Essential’, for low and middle-income countries. This was the first time such a consensus meeting has been held for fungal diseases and AIDS and was timed to precede… Read more »

Gaps in basic data on disease prevalence hinders accurate burden estimates for most fungal diseases: there is a 15-fold difference between the official asthma prevalence in Kazakhstan and the likely true minimal estimate; almost no epidemiological data on fungal diseases in Jordan; no direct records of fungal keratitis from many countries; and no data on… Read more »

Prompt initiation of antifungal therapy can make the difference between life and death for patients with invasive aspergillosis. Point-of-care diagnostics (POC; a.k.a. ‘bedside testing’) allows clinicians to begin treatment right away while awaiting confirmation by culture and histological examination. Two companies have released affordable and simple to use POC tests for invasive aspergillosis. Both tests… Read more »

Following its Advisory meeting in April 2018, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued its first listing of Essential Diagnostics. The list is split into general laboratory tests (n= 58) and specific tests for key infections (HIV, TB, hepatitis, syphilis and human papilloma virus) (n=55). It is also split into sections relating to testing in… Read more »