Key Points:
A lethal, drug-resistant fungus, Aspergillus fumigatus, is spreading with a remarkably rapid pace in the U.S.
It has been prioritized by the WHO on the grounds of rising drug resistance and growing global threat.
Key Background:
1. Aspergillus fumigatus threat
Aspergillus fumigatus is a common and harmless fungus found in the air that typically harms no healthy individual. But to immunocompromised individuals—cancer patients, organ transplant patients, or chronic respiratory disease patients—it is lethal and produces invasive aspergillosis, a lethal infection. The disease provides a port of entry for fungal spores to infect the lungs and proceed further into the rest of the body, essentially “rotting” internal organs.
2. Catastrophic Mortality
Death of invasive aspergillosis is in very rare circulation. Survival at one year among organ transplant recipients is about 59%, whereas among stem cell transplant recipients it is only 25%. Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis, one of the presentations of disease, infects half a million people globally, leading to permanent lung scarring as well as a poor quality of life.
3. Drug Resistance and Climate Change
Climate change is greatly contributing to the dissemination of Aspergillus fumigatus because the organism thrives in hot, humid conditions. Compost piles, decaying plants, and soil offer breeding ground in southern states of the U.S. Contributing to this is extensive use of azole antifungals during farming, which has encouraged drug-resistant populations to thrive in different states.
4. Inadequate Surveillance and Reporting
Even though its increasing hazard, aspergillosis is not a US reportable disease. This absence of official reporting guarantees infection and outcome data will continue to be less than optimal, while public health response will be delayed. Individual hospitals are already moving spontaneously to increase mold testing and infection control procedures to address the present risk.
5. WHO’s Global Call to Action
Aspergillus fumigatus is also on the international priority list as suggested by the World Health Organization, and it should be addressed immediately worldwide. Public awareness, improved treatment, stronger surveillance of fungi, and improved systems for detecting fungal infection are some suggestions made by WHO to manage the deluge of the fungal infection. Delays in action, experts warned that the impending menace would become an epidemic public health catastrophe.
