Over fifty million Indians are affected by serious fungal disease, 10% of which are from potentially dangerous mould infections researchers from India and Manchester have shown. The experts from three Indian teaching hospitals: AIIMS, New Delhi, AIIMS Kalyani, West Bengal and PGIMER, Chandigarh along with The University of Manchester estimate that 57 million – or… Read more »
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Call for immediate action on diagnostics for fungal disease to reduce deaths in Africa from AIDS, TB, and cancer.
Kigali Rwanda, 12th December 2022 – Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and Global Action for Fungal Infections (GAFFI) launch Diagnostics for fungal disease in Africa report at a side event during the 2nd International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA 2022). Fungal disease of the lungs and brain is… Read more »
Histoplasmosis is as common as TB in AIDS in many regions of Nigeria
Histoplasmosis is easily mistaken for tuberculosis in patients with HIV infection, and both infections may occur together. In Nigeria, Rita Oladele and colleagues assessed the relative incidence of histoplasmosis and TB in people with HIV in 10 sites in 5 geopolitical zones. Urinary Histoplasma antigen (Immy) and Xpert MTB/RIF for M. tuberculosis DNA (Cepheid) in… Read more »
WHO galvanises action plans to address lethal fungi species that cause millions of deaths a year
Geneva: The World Health Organization today issued its first ‘Fungal Pathogen Priority List’ with 19 different fungal species highlighted, with the aim to focus and drive further research and policy interventions and strengthen the global response to lethal or serious disease causing fungal infections and antifungal resistance. The global leader in fungal disease advocacy, Global…
Fungal keratitis – a severe infection of the cornea – affects an estimated 1.1 to 1.4 million eyes annually, advise researchers from the UK, the Republic of Congo, Nigeria, India, and the USA. Researchers have just published a review in the Journal of Fungi, stressing the importance of recognising fungal keratitis as an NTD. Recognition… Read more »Call to Action: Fungal keratitis should be accepted as a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Cryptococcal meningitis probably now accounts for 19% of AIDS deaths
Despite remarkable progress in treating more people with HIV infection, an estimated 4.3 million are still at risk of life-threatening fungal, bacterial and viral opportunistic infections, along with TB. In some parts of the world, cryptococcal meningitis is a major killer in AIDS. The third global estimate of cryptococcal disease, including meningitis, has just been… Read more »
Ghananian researchers find there is a new leading fungal killer in AIDS patients in West Africa
A new study in Ghana has revealed that there are twice as many life-threatening patients with disseminated histoplasmosis (4.7%) as cryptococcal meningitis (2%) in people with HIV infection. Bright Ocansey and colleagues at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra and Juaboso Government Hospital in Western North Ghana recruited 150 patients and tested for Histoplasma antigen in urine… Read more »
Skin NTDs – WHO launches its Strategic Framework
More than half of Neglected Tropical Diseases present with skin problems, and this includes 3 that are fungal – Mycetoma, Chromoblastomycosis and Sporotrichosis. On June 8th the World Health Organization launched its strategic framework for the integrated approach to these. The strategic framework is designed to assist endemic countries in reducing the morbidity, disability and… Read more »
Global fungal health advocacy organisation launches Cryptococcal Meningitis care dashboard for Africa
Today, Global Action For Fungal Infections (GAFFI) released a visual dashboard showing the capacity for high-quality care for cryptococcal meningitis in each country in Africa. Assembled following a continent-wide survey of diagnostic practice, the dashboard shows which countries can rapidly diagnose this life-threatening infection, and which cannot, or can do so only partially. The dashboard… Read more »
GAFFI’s Annual Report highlights enormous progress in awareness and diagnostic tools for Fungal Disease – major gaps remain
There is no denying that it has been another tumultuous year in terms of global infectious diseases, particularly in India, which saw the world’s first major outbreak of mucormycosis affecting over 40,000 people (with COVID-19 and usually diabetes), and is the epicentre of the resistance outbreak caused by the new skin fungus Trichophyton indotineae. Despite… Read more »
