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Worldwide emergence of resistance to antifungal drugs challenges human health and food security.

  • Fisher MC MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK. matthew.fisher@imperial.ac.uk s.j.gurr@exeter.ac.uk.
  • Hawkins NJ Department of Biointeractions and Crop Protection, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden AL5 2JQ, UK.
  • Sanglard D Institute of Microbiology, University of Lausanne and University Hospital, Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.
  • Gurr SJ Department of BioSciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK. matthew.fisher@imperial.ac.uk s.j.gurr@exeter.ac.uk.
  • 2018-05-19
Published in:
  • Science (New York, N.Y.). - 2018
Antifungal Agents
Drug Resistance, Fungal
Evolution, Molecular
Food Supply
Fungi
Humans
Infection Control
Mycoses
English The recent rate of emergence of pathogenic fungi that are resistant to the limited number of commonly used antifungal agents is unprecedented. The azoles, for example, are used not only for human and animal health care and crop protection but also in antifouling coatings and timber preservation. The ubiquity and multiple uses of azoles have hastened the independent evolution of resistance in many environments. One consequence is an increasing risk in human health care from naturally occurring opportunistic fungal pathogens that have acquired resistance to this broad class of chemicals. To avoid a global collapse in our ability to control fungal infections and to avoid critical failures in medicine and food security, we must improve our stewardship of extant chemicals, promote new antifungal discovery, and leverage emerging technologies for alternative solutions.
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  • English
Open access status
bronze
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https://sonar.ch/global/documents/295418
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