How common is chronic pulmonary histoplasmosis? No one knows, but it is likely global and grossly under-diagnosed

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First described in in 1948 and acknowledged as a separate clinical entity in 1953, many patients with chronic pulmonary histoplasmosis (CPH) languished in US tuberculosis sanatoriums, until picked out in the 1950’s. In one sanatorium in Missouri, 7.2% of ‘TB patients’ actually had CPH. In a review just published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Jacob… Read more »

On World Tuberculosis Day, remember TB-like fungal infections and co-infection of TB and Aspergillus

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  Several lung fungal infections can be mistaken for TB – histoplasmosis, aspergillosis, coccidioidomycosis and paracoccidioidomycosis.  Antibody testing and fungal culture of sputum are the means of establishing the diagnosis. The number of incident cases of these fungal infections varies substantially by region and country and the rate of misdiagnosis of TB-like fungal infections is not… Read more »

Neglected, market failures, public health failures

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  Writing in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Marcio Rodrigues and Joshua Nosanchuk highlight the numerous reasons why fungal diseases are so neglected. They point to a science failure – including inadequate funding. They detail research funding for different diseases by numbers of deaths: malaria $1,315 , tuberculosis $334, diarrhoeal diseases $276, compared with $31 for… Read more »

World’s first lateral flow assay for Histoplasma antigen launched

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In a ground-breaking development for patients with AIDS, the world’s first lateral flow assay able to detect Histoplasma antigen has been launched by MiraVista Diagnostics, based in Indianapolis, USA. Diego Cáceres and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) independently evaluated the new LFA in serum samples from patients and controls in… Read more »

Candida bloodstream infection in the USA

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A recent CDC Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report estimated the incidence of candidaemia in the US at around 9/100,000 which equates to >28,000 cases annually, with an overall mortality of 25%. 10% of cases are in IV drug abusers, 33% in diabetics and 17% in cancer patients.

The Diagnostic Laboratory Hub – a new Healthcare System to reduce fungal disease mortality in Guatemala

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A team from Guatemala has published a new approach to diagnosing AIDS-related lethal fungal infections and tuberculosis (TB) in the prestigious journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases. Supported by the Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections (GAFFI) the Asociación de Salud Integral shows how by providing access to rapid diagnostics and focussed training, LMICs can deliver… Read more »

GAFFI presents the case for investment into fungal diseases to Bundestag, Berlin.

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  At the invitation of the Chair of Global Health sub-committee Heike Baehrens, GAFFI’s plea for more investment into saving lives and reducing symptoms caused by fungal diseases.  As part of the One Health concept, GAFFI’s Chief Executive Professor David Denning and Senior Medical Adviser Professor Juan Luis Rodriguez Tudela spoke at the hour-long meeting… Read more »

Medical experts stress the need for new ways of diagnosing neglected tropical fungal skin disease

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An ad hoc panel of twenty three international medical experts from the fields of mycology, microbiology and dermatology, led by the International Foundation for Dermatology (IFD) and Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections (GAFFI), have put forward methods for developing essential diagnostic strategies for three major skin Fungal Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). You can find… Read more »