A team of researchers at Cleveland-based Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is urging the medical community to prioritize enhanced awareness and education on drug-resistant fungi as the number of global fungal infections grows.
In a commentary published March 5 in Pathogens and Immunity, Thomas McCormick, PhD, and Mahmoud Ghannoum, PhD, professors of dermatology at Case Western Reserve University and affiliates of University Hospitals in Cleveland, called on the healthcare industry to place more focus on the growing threat posed by multi-drug-resistant fungi.
Specifically, Drs. McCormick and Ghannoum called for more awareness and education in healthcare settings; routine use of diagnostic tests for providers facing an unknown fungal infection; and increasing reimbursement rates for antifungal susceptibility testing as well as increasing the number of laboratories able to perform such testing.
"Healthcare providers must prioritize the use of diagnostic tests when faced with an unknown fungal infection," Dr. Ghannoum said in a news release. "Early detection can make all the difference in improving patient outcomes."
Research has previously estimated that there are more than 150 million global cases of severe fungal infections annually, with 1.7 million deaths. Increasingly, public health experts in the U.S. have been calling attention to the growing threats posed by fungal infections such as Candida auris. More robust surveillance is needed to better track emerging fungal infections, as well as further education in medical schools, according to experts.