Fungal Infections: Epidemiology, Clinical Challenges, and Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment - a review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/QS.2025.38.57928Keywords
fungal infection, epidemiology, risk factorsAbstract
Fungal infections are a serious public health threat, affecting a wide variety of populations worldwide. This review presents the current state of knowledge on fungal infections, focusing on epidemiology, etiology, clinical manifestations, and emerging trends. Findings are based on 35 peer-reviewed studies and focus on both well-known and emerging fungal pathogens, diagnostic advances, and therapeutic challenges. In addition, this review emphasizes the role of environmental and social factors in shaping the dynamics of fungal disease and highlights the importance of a global, multidisciplinary effort to combat the rise in fungal disease. The literature for this review was collected from PubMed and Google Scholar using the key words “fungal infections” combined with “epidemiology”, “etiology”, “risk factors”, “symptoms”, “complications”, “treatment”, and “trends”.
References
The Spectrum of Fungi That Infects Humans Köhler JR, Casadevall A, Perfect J. The spectrum of fungi that infects humans. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2014 Nov 3;5(1):a019273. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a019273. PMID: 25367975; PMCID: PMC4292074.
Garber G. An overview of fungal infections. Drugs. 2001;61 Suppl 1:1-12. doi:10.2165/00003495-200161001-00001.
Groll AH, et al. Trends in the postmortem epidemiology of invasive fungal infections. J Infect. 1996;33(1):23-32. doi:10.1016/s0163-4453(96)92700-0.
Jaworek AK, et al. Demographic and Pathogen Profiles of Superficial Fungal Infections. Mycoses. 2024;67(12):e70009. doi:10.1111/myc.70009.
García-Fontgivell JF, Mayayo Artal E. Prevalence of fungal infections detected from biopsies. Rev Iberoam Micol. 2006;23(4):201-8. doi:10.1016/s1130-1406(06)70045-
Pfaller MA, Diekema DJ. Epidemiology of invasive candidiasis. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2007;20(1):133-63. doi:10.1128/CMR.00029-06.
Wald A, et al. Epidemiology of Aspergillus infections in bone marrow transplantation. J Infect Dis. 1997;175(6):1459-66. doi:10.1086/516480.
Low CY, Rotstein C. Emerging fungal infections in immunocompromised patients. F1000 Med Rep. 2011;3:14. doi:10.3410/M3-14.
Denning DW. Global incidence and mortality of severe fungal disease. Lancet Infect Dis. 2024;24(7):e428-38. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(23)00692-8.
Detandt M, Nolard N. Fungal contamination of swimming pool floors. Mycoses. 1995;38(11-12):509-13. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0507.1995.tb00029.x.
Friedman DZP, Schwartz IS. Emerging fungal infections: new patterns. J Fungi. 2019;5(3):67. doi:10.3390/jof5030067.
Kirkpatrick CH. Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1994;31(3 Pt 2):S14-7. doi:10.1016/s0190-9622(08)81260-1.
Falcone EL, Holland SM. Invasive fungal infection in chronic granulomatous disease. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2012;25(6):658-69. doi:10.1097/QCO.0b013e328358b0a4.
Paramythiotou E, et al. Invasive fungal infections in the ICU. Molecules. 2014;19(1):1085-119. doi:10.3390/molecules19011085.
Van Burik JA, et al. Panfungal PCR assay for detection of fungal infection in human blood specimens. J Clin Microbiol. 1998;36(5):1169-75. doi:10.1128/JCM.36.5.1169-1175.1998.
Revie NM, et al. Antifungal drug resistance: mechanisms and impact. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2018;45:70-76. doi:10.1016/j.mib.2018.02.005.
Limper AH, et al. Fungal infections in HIV/AIDS. Lancet Infect Dis. 2017;17(11):e334-e343. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30303-1.
Odds FC. Epidemiological shifts in opportunistic and nosocomial Candida infections: mycological aspects. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 1996;6(3):141-4. doi:10.1016/0924-8579(95)00049-6.
Horré R, et al. Fungal respiratory infections in cystic fibrosis. Med Mycol. 2010;48 Suppl 1:S1-3. doi:10.3109/13693786.2010.529304.
Johnson RH, et al. Coccidioidomycosis: a review. J Investig Med. 2021;69(2):316-323. doi:10.1136/jim-2020-001655. Erratum in: J Investig Med. 2021;69(8):1486. doi:10.1136/jim-2020-001655corr1.
Ray A, et al. Antifungal stewardship: What we need to know. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol. 2023;89:5-11. doi:10.4103/ijdvl.IJDVL_957_22.
Jain A, et al. Emerging fungal infections among children. J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2010;2(4):314-20. doi:10.4103/0975-7406.72131.
Revie NM, et al. Antifungal drug resistance. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2018;45:70-76. doi:10.1016/j.mib.2018.02.005.
Hogan DA, et al. Biofilms and fungal pathogenicity: a multifaceted issue. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2021;19(2):123-138. doi:10.1038/s41579-020-00456-6.
Rajasingham R, et al. Cryptococcal meningitis diagnostics and trends. Lancet Infect Dis. 2022;22(4):e112-20. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00467-8.
Le T, et al. Penicillium marneffei infections in HIV patients in Vietnam. Clin Infect Dis. 2011;52(8):945-52. doi:10.1093/cid/cir028.
Hay RJ, et al. Psychological impact of superficial fungal infections. Mycopathologia. 2017;182(1):9-15. doi:10.1007/s11046-016-0069-3.
Smith DJ, et al. Socio-economic determinants of fungal infections. Public Health Rev. 2020;41(1):15. doi:10.1186/s40985-020-00124-8.
Lionakis MS, Netea MG, Holland SM. Mendelian genetics of human susceptibility to fungal infection. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2014 Jun;4(6):a019638. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a019638. PMID: 24890837; PMCID: PMC4031953.
Roemer T, Krysan DJ. Antifungal drug development: challenges, unmet clinical needs, and new approaches. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2014;4(5):a019703. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a019703.
Casqueiro J, et al. Infections in diabetes mellitus. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2012;16(Suppl1):S27-36. doi:10.4103/2230-8210.94253
Lum LG, Bollard CM. Specific adoptive T-cell therapy for viral and fungal infections. Management of Infections in the Immunocompromised Host. 2018;395–411. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-77674-3_20. PMCID: PMC7121368.
Rayens E, et al. Demographic and Socioeconomic Factors Associated with Fungal Infection Risk, United States, 2019. Emerg Infect Dis. 2022;28(10):1955–69. doi:10.3201/eid2810.220391.
Smith DJ, et al. Public Health Research Priorities for Fungal Diseases: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Save Lives. J Fungi (Basel). 2023;9(8):820. doi:10.3390/jof9080820.
Rayens E, Rayens MK, Norris KA. An overview of demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with fungal infection risk, United States, 2019. Emerg Infect Dis. 2022 Oct;28(10):1955–69. doi:10.3201/eid2810.220391.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Filip Klimas, Dorota Zatłoka-Mazur, Kacper Rusiński, Piotr Zając, Bartosz Pawłowski, Michał Sienkiewicz, Adriana Potoczek, Zuzanna Zięba, Iwona Pudełko

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 27
Number of citations: 0