Epidemiology, Modern Diagnostics, and the Management of Mucorales Infections

Mucormycosis is an uncommon, yet deadly invasive fungal infection caused by the Mucorales moulds. These pathogens are a WHO-assigned high-priority pathogen group, as mucormycosis incidence is increasing, and there is unacceptably high mortality with current antifungal therapies. Current diagnostic m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of fungi (Basel) 2023-06, Vol.9 (6), p.659
Main Authors: Pham, David, Howard-Jones, Annaleise R, Sparks, Rebecca, Stefani, Maurizio, Sivalingam, Varsha, Halliday, Catriona L, Beardsley, Justin, Chen, Sharon C-A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antifungal agents
Australia
COVID-19
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetics
diagnostics
Disease susceptibility
DNA sequencing
Epidemiology
Fungi
Health aspects
Immunocompetence
India
Infection
Infections
Medical prognosis
Mortality
Mucorales
Mucormycosis
Natural disasters
Pathogens
Phylogenetics
Review
Ribosomal DNA
Risk factors
RNA polymerase
Taxonomy
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Summary:Mucormycosis is an uncommon, yet deadly invasive fungal infection caused by the Mucorales moulds. These pathogens are a WHO-assigned high-priority pathogen group, as mucormycosis incidence is increasing, and there is unacceptably high mortality with current antifungal therapies. Current diagnostic methods have inadequate sensitivity and specificity and may have issues with accessibility or turnaround time. Patients with diabetes mellitus and immune compromise are predisposed to infection with these environmental fungi, but COVID-19 has established itself as a new risk factor. Mucorales also cause healthcare-associated outbreaks, and clusters associated with natural disasters have also been identified. Robust epidemiological surveillance into burden of disease, at-risk populations, and emerging pathogens is required. Emerging serological and molecular techniques may offer a faster route to diagnosis, while newly developed antifungal agents show promise in preliminary studies. Equitable access to these emerging diagnostic techniques and antifungal therapies will be key in identifying and treating mucormycosis, as delayed initiation of therapy is associated with higher mortality.
ISSN:2309-608X
2309-608X
DOI:10.3390/jof9060659