People are exposed to fungi many times each day. If their immune system is functioning well, these fungi do not pose a problem. However, as more people’s immune system is weakened, they become susceptible to fungal infections. What’s more, opportunistic fungal pathogens are becoming more prevalent.
Who Is at Risk?
Several groups of people are at risk including people who’ve had an organ transplant, HIV patients, people who’ve had major surgery, along with all those who have an immune system deficiency of one type or another.
What Are Opportunistic Fungal Pathogens?
A significant amount of research has gone into three different opportunistic fungal pathogens, Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Cryptococcus neoformans. The scientists behind this research have noted that these opportunistic fungal pathogens do not pose a risk to healthy individuals. However, they may cause lethal infections in immunocompromised patients. In addition, they concluded that any fungus can cause a serious infection in people with a suppressed immune system.
Educating Doctors on Fungal Infections
In recent years, scientists have worked hard to inform physicians across the globe on how to diagnose and treat fungal infections. Opportunistic fungal pathogens have received much attention because they pose such a grave risk to immunocompromised patients.
Whereas previously doctors may not have tested for fungal infections, there is now a growing trend to identify and treat them.
Final Thoughts
As more people live with weakened immune systems, fungal infections are becoming more prevalent. Scientists and microbiologists have been studying how fungi enter the body and cause infections.
Further research is necessary to fully understand and come to grips with deadly fungal infections. What was once thought of as treatable condition have now emerged as potentially life-threatening disease.
Fungal infections pose a serious risk to people who are already suffering from ill-health as their immune system often cannot fight these infections adequately.
