The number of people dying from fungal infections has nearly doubled in the past decade, as fungi become more contagious and dangerous comorbidities such as lung disease and HIV have increased.
a paper This week’s publication in The Lancet Infectious Diseases shows that 6.5 million invasive fungal infections and 3.8 million fungal-related deaths occur worldwide every year, with 2.5 million of these deaths directly caused by fungi.
This is an increase from the 2 million total mold-related deaths in 2012 study.
For the 2024 analysis, David Denning, a fungal infection researcher at the University of Manchester in Britain, reviewed dozens of papers published between 2010 and 2023, analyzing data from 120 countries.
The World Health Organization has raised concerns about 19 ‘priority pathogens’ growing and becoming resistant to treatments, including yeasts and molds. Four species of fungi were included in the critical priority group: Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans and Candida Auris.
Nevada had the highest number of C. auris cases in the U.S. last year with 384. Next is California with 359 cases and Florida with 349.
In November 2023, US health officials sounded the alarm over a massive spike in cases of a ‘super fungus’ that originated in Nevada
Although bacteria and viruses often make people sick, fungi are the cause of many common – and benign – infections, such as athlete’s foot, fungal infections, thrush, ringworm and fungal infections of the nail.
Most of these can be cured with oral antifungal medications or creams. Some fungi even live in the human body, but a strong immune system fights an infection.
However, due to the emergence of fungi resistant to antibiotics, the evolution of fungi and the lack of protective measures such as vaccines, some experts believe that dangerous fungal infections could become epidemic.
Fungi also live in the air, soil, on plants and in water. About half are harmful. Recognizable fungi are molds, mushrooms and mildew.
However, some forms of mold can cause serious illness, especially in people with weakened immune systems.
Rare and serious conditions such as chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA), invasive candidiasis, Pneumocystis pneumonia and Cryptococcus meningitis can cause organ damage, brain swelling and even death.
The 2024 article reported that there are 1.8 million cases of CAP – a serious lung disease with a five-year survival rate of 20 percent – every year worldwide, with 340,000 deaths.
There are approximately 1.56 million cases of Candida bloodstream infections – a form of invasive candidiasis – and 995,000 people die from the condition every year.
Pneumocystis pneumonia is a very rare infection that occurs most often in people with weakened immune systems, such as HIV patients. It infects 505,000 people annually and kills 214,000 worldwide.
Cryptococcal meningitis – is a fungal infection that spreads from the lungs to the brain – infects approximately 194,000 people and causes 147,000 deaths worldwide each year.
Valley fever – caused by the fungus coccidioidomycosis – is more common in the US and lives in the soil and infects people who inhale the fungus.
The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that there were 20,000 cases in the US in 2019.
It is mainly found in California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.
However, the infection is becoming increasingly common and a 2019 study predicted that the area endemic for valley fever will more than double by 2095 and states reporting valley fever will increase from 12 to 17.
In November 2023, US health officials sounded the alarm over a massive spike in cases of a “super fungus” that originated in Nevada and began spreading to other parts of the country.
The above shows the presence of valley fever infections all over the world. Valley fever is most common in California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah
The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that there were 20,000 cases in the US in 2019.
In October 2023 alone, there were nearly 200 people in southern Nevada who tested positive for Candida auris, known as C auris, a microscopic strain of yeast that can cause infections in the bloodstream, brain, heart or other organs. That is more than double the number in 2021.
Sharon McCreary, 61, previously told DailyMail.com that her mother Lorraine, 86, suffered a fatal stroke in 2022 after contracting the microscopic yeast strain Candida auris. It is believed that Lorraine became infected with the fungus while in hospital, where the disease is becoming increasingly common.
Originally hospitalized for pneumonia, Lorraine began to recover when her condition rapidly deteriorated.
She was diagnosed with C auris, which kills up to half of people who become infected with it. Doctors believe she contracted the fungus through oxygen tubes.
The infection started a fatal chain of events for Lorraine, with the C. auris causing sepsis and kidney failure, eventually leading to a fatal stroke.
Sharon McCreary (left) with her mother Lorraine McCreary (right) at an MLB baseball game in 2017. Lorrie died after contracting Candida auris from a hospital in 2022
Some scientists speculate that climate change has caused some fungal species to evolve so that they can tolerate conditions in which the fungi previously could not survive.
Furthermore, advances in medicine that allow people to live with organ transplants or once-fatal diseases like HIV – but with compromised immune systems – could also contribute to increasing infections or deaths.
The article shows that more than 2 million cases and 1.8 million deaths each year from the fungal infection invasive aspergillosis occur in people with other health problems, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer and tuberculosis.
And fungal infections are estimated to contribute to half of the 600,000 deaths each year worldwide due to poorly controlled HIV or AIDS.
Mr Denning said the incidence of fungal infections was much more common than previously thought, but better awareness, appropriate testing and timely diagnosis could reduce the ‘substantial number of often avoidable premature deaths from life-threatening fungal diseases’.