Deaths from fungal infections have doubled – and there are no vaccines

Deaths caused by fungal infections have doubled in the last decade according to new research, as the search for vaccines continues.

Dr David Denning, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Manchester, has estimated 3.8 million people around the world now die from fungal infections every year – and called for better diagnosis.

‘To put this in perspective, it accounts for around 6.8% of total global deaths,’ he said, writing in The Conversation.

‘Coronary heart disease is probably responsible for 16% of the world’s total deaths, followed by stroke at 11%. Smoke-related lung disease comprises 6% of total deaths, with fungal infection being responsible for about one-third of these 3,228,000 deaths.’

Pneumonia and tuberculosis lead to 2.6 million and 1.2 million deaths a year, some of which are also caused by fungi.

There are currently no vaccines for any fungi that cause infections.

‘The most important lethal fungi are Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus, which cause lung infections,’ said Professor Denning, chief executive of the Global Action Fund for Fungal infections. 

‘Among the people affected are those with lung diseases, such as asthma, TB and lung cancer, but also people with leukemia, those who have had an organ transplant and those in intensive care.’

Last year, cases of Candida auris spread through hospitals in the US, killing around a third of those who caught it – although many of those were already extremely ill.

‘Candida infections are one cause of sepsis and are found in the bloodstream,’ said Professor Denning. 

‘They are also linked to diabetes or renal failure – or both – and can also take hold after major surgery or trauma. This fungus is a normal part of the gut microbiome, but when we are very ill, it travels across the gut wall into the bloodstream.’

Tales of killer fungi can be reminiscent of the 2023 hit TV show The Last Of Us, and while no infection comes close to the zombie disease imagined there, one major issue on the rise is that of drug resistance

‘Unfortunately, as with antibiotic resistance, antifungal resistance is a growing problem too,’ said Professor Denning. ‘Spraying crops with certain types of fungicides is greatly increasing resistance rates to a group of antifungal drugs, known as azoles.’

In recent years, India has also suffered the first large-scale outbreak of so-called ‘black fungus’, which blocks blood vessels, killing tissue.

And more commonly, patients admitted to intensive care with influenza have a high chance of life-threatening Aspergillus infection, which doubles their risk of death.

Following on from his recent paper, published in Lancet Infectious Diseases, Professor Denning is calling on health authorities to implement better diagnosis and be more alert for fungal infections.

‘That is why accurate and timely diagnosis is desperately needed, and why we need to take fungi very seriously.’

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