Anti-fungals losing ground against fungal infections in hospitals

Somewhere between one third and
one half of hospitalized patients who are infected by the fungus Candida die.
This number is on the rise due to increasing resistance to commonly used
antifungals.

However, the picture is
complicated because there are various species of Candida and outcomes depend on
patients’ underlying conditions.

Now, four researchers in Cairo,
Egypt, have analysed blood cultures from cancer patients in a hospital in Egypt
to identify the Candida species present and to determine how well they
responded to two common anti-fungal drugs.

They found that non-albicans
Candida species, rather than the traditionally dominant Candida albicans, are
now the most widespread cause of such infections. Alarmingly, they found high
resistance rates to the drugs, particularly in non-albicans Candida species,
suggesting that commonly used treatments may be losing their effectiveness.

To preserve the efficacy of existing
antifungals, the researchers call for programs to steward them. They also recommend
further studies looking at how resistance develops.