India still short on expertise, tools to manage fungal health burden, Pg2

Key Highlights:

• A Lancet Infectious Diseases review estimated that 3.8 million people die annually from fungal diseases.
• Over 5 crore Indians are estimated to suffer from fungal diseases, one of the highest burdens worldwide.
• Mucormycosis, or black fungus, prevalence is about 80 times higher in India compared to economically developed countries.
• Clinicians often prescribe antibacterials first, delaying proper antifungal treatment, which allows fungi to intrude deeper into the body.

Detailed Insights:

• Fungal infections thrive in hot and humid conditions, placing tropical countries like India at higher risk.
• Many cases that test negative for Mycobacterium tuberculosis are incorrectly treated with anti-tuberculosis drugs instead of being tested for fungal conditions like aspergillosis.
• Confirming fungal infections requires growing them on microbiology culture plates, a process that is time-consuming, technically demanding, and expensive.
• Advanced tests like MALDI-TOF can identify fungi rapidly but are expensive and may not detect new pathogens in tropical regions.
• PCR tests, while effective for viruses, are less suited for fungi due to the tough fungal cell walls that require specialized extraction methods.
• Rampant self-medication, over-the-counter sales, and agricultural use have led to increased antifungal resistance among fungi.
• Research in India is focusing on identifying priority fungal pathogens, mapping antifungal resistance, and developing new therapeutics like antimicrobial peptides.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Mycoses: Diseases caused by fungi that can affect various parts of the body.
• Antifungal Resistance: The ability of fungi to withstand the effects of antifungal medications.
• MALDI-TOF: A rapid, automated technique for identifying pathogens by analyzing their surface proteins.