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Mahesh

29/10/22 05:44 AM IST

WHO releases first-ever list of fungal infection, flags global

In News 
  • The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published a report highlighting the first-ever list of fungal "priority pathogens" – a catalogue of the 19 fungi that represent the greatest threat to public health.
About FPPL List 
  • The FPPL is the first global effort to systematically prioritize fungal pathogens, with consideration to the unmet research and development requirements and the perceived global public health importance.
  • It aims to boost research and policy interventions to strengthen the international response to fungal infection and antifungal resistance.
  • The WHO FPPL list is divided into three categories – critical, high, and medium priority.
  • The fungal pathogens in each priority category are ranked based on their impact on public health and/or emerging antifungal resistance risk. 
Three Categories
  • The critical group includes Candida auris, which is highly drug resistant and has caused a number of outbreaks in hospitals worldwide, as well as Cryptococcus neoformans, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Candida albicans.
  • The high group includes a number of other fungi from the Candida family as well as others such as Mucorales, a group containing the fungi that causes mucormycosis or "black fungus", an infection which rose rapidly in seriously ill people - particularly in India - during COVID-19.
  • The medium group lists a number of other fungi, including Coccidioides spp and Cryptococcus gattii.
A global threat 
  • Fungal pathogens are increasingly becoming a threat to public health as they are becoming more common and highly resistant to treatment.
  • Currently, only four classes of antifungal medicines are available, and very few new ones are currently being tested.
  • Rapid and sensitive diagnostic tools are absent for most of the fungal pathogens.
  • Invasive forms of fungal pathogens are severely affecting immunocompromised people like patients suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, chronic respiratory disease, and post-primary tuberculosis infection and organ transplant.
Source- Live Mint 

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