Emerging Threats In Medical Mycology: A Comprehensive Review Of Fungal Infections And The Rise Of Candida Auris

Abstract

Mycoses, fungal diseases are an ever-growing challenge to global health, with such a wide variety of clinical manifestations that it is difficult to count them. Most fungal species are benign though a few of them (approximately 300) can affect the human being, especially the individuals with weak immune systems like patients with cancer, members who have undergone transplants, and people with HIV/AIDS. The dramatic increase in the invasive fungal infections is directly linked with improvement of medical interventions, immunosuppressive medications and prevalence of broad-spectrum antibiotics usage. Specific attention should be reserved to Candida auris, a stream of multidrug-resistant fungal pathogens that caused outbreaks in healthcare facilities across the globe.  C. auris has shown high mortality rates, resistance in multiple antifungal drugs, inability to be removed from surfaces, and common misidentification with regular diagnostics tools, which made the control and treatment of the infection difficult. Climate change, urbanization, global traveling, and agricultural overuse of antifungal medications serve as the additional factors promoting the spread of resistant fungal pathogens. Such dynamics indicate the necessity of more effective diagnostic technologies, surveillance, and new therapeutic strategies such as developing vaccines and using antifungal stewardship. This review gives a complete overview of the pathogenesis, epidemiology, diagnostic and resistance nature of fungal infections especially candidiasis, with a special emphasis on an emergent pathogen, Candida auris, its importance in putting forward the big effort as a multi-pronged approach as a great challenge in curbing or reducing the growing menace of fungal diseases.