Antifungal resistance and susceptibility

Antifungal resistance and susceptibility research examines how fungal pathogens such as *Candida*, *Aspergillus*, and *Mucorales* species evade the drugs used to treat them, and how clinicians can reliably detect those vulnerabilities before choosing a therapy. These infections are particularly dangerous in immunocompromised patients — including those receiving chemotherapy, organ transplants, or prolonged steroid treatment — where mortality from invasive disease can exceed fifty percent even with treatment. A central challenge is that the antifungal drug arsenal remains narrow compared to antibacterials, and resistance mechanisms such as biofilm formation and efflux pump upregulation are spreading faster than new therapies are being approved. Current research is pressing on two fronts: improving rapid susceptibility testing so that resistance is caught early rather than after treatment failure, and understanding the epidemiological forces — including agricultural fungicide use — that are driving resistance in environmental fungal populations before they reach patients.

Works

120,189

Total citations

2,331,943

Keywords

Invasive Fungal InfectionsCandidiasisAspergillosisAntifungal TherapyMucormycosisBiofilm Formation