A new study by Liu et al has documented 114 cases of invasive candidiasis from a recent single-centre, retrospective analysis of patients with infected pancreatic necrosis. Of these, 60.5% had candidemia with or without pancreatic fungal infection, and 39.5% had isolated pancreatic fungal infection. Mixed fungal-bacterial co-infections were identified in 43.9 % of fungal-positive specimens. This […]
Antibody testing of the CSF is critical for the diagnosis of coccidioidal meningitis
A retrospective study conducted by Ravi et al in Arizona evidently showed that a combination of diagnostic tests provides the best diagnostic yield for coccidioidal meningitis. Fungal culture was positive in only 4.4% of cases. In this study, which recruited 110 participants, most cases were diagnosed via CSF antibody tests (93.7%). The positivity rate of […]
Is the NovaplexTM Dermatophyte qPCR assay preferred to conventional methods in the diagnosis of dermatomycoses?
The diagnosis of cutaneous fungal infections using direct microscopy and culture methods is quite challenging due to poor sensitivity and a long turnaround time, particularly associated with cultures. However, this may be the case only in settings lacking the capacity to utilise quantitative PCR for diagnosing dermatomycoses. Argente-Colàs and colleagues at the Navarra University Hospital […]
Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing shows superiority over conventional methods in diagnosing invasive aspergillosis
The detection of fungal pathogens causing respiratory infections is challenging with culture because of low sensitivity, but also the detection threshold of PCR methods. The incorporation of next-generation sequencing (NGS) as a routine diagnostic armamentarium could curb these limitations. A new study by Yin et al 2024 provides evidence that NGS of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) […]
Mycophenolic acid in patients with solid organ transplants may confer P. jirovecii drug resistance
The incidence of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) has declined significantly in people living with HIV but has steadily been increasing in non-HIV immunocompromised populations including solid-organ transplant (SOT) recipients. Recent studies have it that SOT recipients comprise approximately 30% of HIV-negative PCP cases, mainly in kidney-transplant recipients, often after prophylaxis has been stopped. Mycophenolic acid (MPA) […]
New study of HIV patients with disseminated histoplasmosis
A newly published study by Sturny-Leclère et al. (2025) examines the outcomes of people living with HIV with disseminated histoplasmosis (DH) undergoing treatment with liposomal amphotericin B (L-AmB). The researchers quantified Histoplasma from blood samples collected during a clinical trial in Brazil. The trial compared three L-AmB treatment regimens in 105 HIV-positive patients diagnosed with […]
Rising threat of fungal infections in intravenous drug users
A new comprehensive review published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases warns of a growing public health concern: a sharp rise in severe fungal infections among people who use drugs, especially those who inject them. The review, led by Dr Jose Portugal Gonzales and Dr Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner of the University of Texas Health Science Center at […]
WHO publishes report on fungal diagnostics and antifungal treatments
The World Health Organization (WHO) today published its first-ever reports addressing the critical lack of medicines and diagnostic tools for invasive fungal diseases, showing the urgent need for innovative research and development (R&D) to close these gaps. Fungal diseases are an increasing public health concern, with common infections – such as Candida, which causes oral and vaginal thrush – growing increasingly […]
New global guideline for candidiasis
The new Global Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Candidiasis (Cornely et al., 2025) is a comprehensive review and update on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Candida infections, developed by the European Confederation for Medical Mycology (ECMM) in collaboration with ISHAM and ASM. Candida species, particularly Candida auris and fluconazole-resistant Candida parapsilosis, pose […]
Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in interstitial lung disease
A recent study published in BMC Pulmonary Medicine has shed light on the clinical features and risk factors associated with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in patients suffering from interstitial lung disease (ILD). Most ILD patients are not immunocompromised and yet affected by IPA, as in other conditions compromising lung function. The main finding was a […]