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The Impact of Contemporary Emerging Resistant Fungal Infections in Vulnerable Populations and Methods for Treatment
Ahmad, Hafsah
Ahmad, Hafsah
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2025
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Bioengineering
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https://doi.org/10.34944/j4h5-pc34
Abstract
Over the past decade emerging resistant fungal infections have become apparent as the next healthcare threat. These infections are opportunistic and affect immunocompromised or hospitalized populations and with the development of modern medicine the rates of these populations are rising. There are only four classes of antifungals: azoles, polyenes, antimetabolites, and echinocandins. The concern is with multidrug resistant fungi’s the mortality rate for these infections has been increasing with a large surge seen during the Covid pandemic. The Candida and Aspergillus species of fungus are considered the biggest threats as they have multidrug resistant strains, and they can cause lethal complications. Resistance is caused by overuse of the antifungals and selective pressure causing the fungi to develop genetic mutations to avoid the drug’s therapeutic effects. To tackle this problem new treatments or intervention methods must be introduced. It has been difficult to produce new treatments as fungi are very similar to humans and pharmaceutical companies are struggling in finding unique pathway or targets that won’t be toxic to humans. However, there are some known targets that require more testing before they can be developed into an approved drug.
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