Like bacteria with antibiotics, many fungal pathogens are increasingly developing resistance to antifungal drugs, scientists have highlighted this alarming trend while emphasising the need to include fungal pathogens in the broader Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) discussion. Ahead of the UN meeting on AMR later this month, they have called for including resistance developed in many fungal pathogens to curb the superbugs.
Intriguingly, while the threat of fungal pathogens and antifungal resistance has been on the rise across the world, the public health crisis has largely been “underrecognised” and “left out of the debate” by scientists, Governments, clinicians, and pharmaceutical companies.
Researchers from the University of Manchester, the University of Amsterdam, and the Westerdijk Institute revealed that many fungal pathogens identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) are either already resistant or quickly acquiring resistance to antifungal treatments. These resistant pathogens are responsible for approximately 3.8 million deaths annually. The researchers have called for immediate global action, in a study published in The Lancet on Friday.
The scientists argued that focussing on bacteria alone will not help fully combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). They called for immediate action, without which resistance to fungal disease will escalate.
Aspergillus, Candida, Nakaseomyces glabratus, and Trichophyton indotineae are the major fungicide resistant infections. These can have devastating health impacts on the elderly and people with weak immune systems. Dr Norman van Rhijn from The University of Manchester said that invasive fungal diseases have been responsible for many drug resistance problems over the past decades.
Van Rhijn explained that “the close similarities between fungal and human cells make it hard to find treatments that selectively inhibit fungi with minimal toxicity to patients”.
The scientists suggested a global consensus on limiting the use of certain classes of antifungal molecules. They also stressed the need for collaborating on solutions and regulations that ensure food security and universal health for animals, plants, and humans.
Dr Manish Jhangra, Gurugram based dermatologist who is not related with the study, said that India too is witnessing an alarming growing trend of antifungal resistance problem, with some fungal species exhibiting multidrug resistance. In India, up to 7 per cent of patients have a resistance to fluconazole, particularly non-albicans Candida specie while Tinea cruris and tinea corporis conditions which is endemic to India is resistant to the widely used drug terbinafine (TRB), he said citing various reports.
Also, there has been a significant increase in chronic, relapsing cases of this condition in India. These cases are often resistant to conventional antifungal drugs and doses, he said while stressing the need for global deliberation on the fungal resistance to the drugs.
