Morbidity and Mortality Due to Fungal Infections

Mycotic diseases are global in distribution, but maximum cases are recorded from tropical and subtropical countries. Mycoses are important from public health and economic point of view. Globally, 800 million people in world have suffered from one or other types of fungal diseases. Aspergillus, Candida, Cryptococcus and Pneumocystis are important opportunistic fungi responsible for high mortality, especially in immunocompromised hosts. The source of infection is exogenous, and infection is mainly acquired by inhalation of infectious fungal spores from the saprobic environment. The demonstration of fungal agent and its isolation from clinical specimens is still considered the gold standard the diagnosis of mycotic disease. Several topical and systemic drugs are available for the management of disease. Continuous public health education programme about the growing role of fungi in human diseases is recommended. It is emphasized that routine application of Pal’s sunflower seed medium and Narayan stain will help the mycologists in the study of fungal infections. The development of safe, potent, and cheap chemotherapeutic agents are imperative for the management of mycoses, which cause life threatening disease. There is a need to undertake more comprehensive and systematic studies on the growing role of fungi in human health.