An alarm has been raised in the USA since spread of Candida auris fungus, which kills up to 60% of the people it infects. The great concern about the “season of fungi” comes in conjunction with warnings from the World Health Organizationbut also an important research, which shows that the rise in temperature, due to climate change, can make them fungi more resistant and therefore more dangerous for humans.
While bacteria and viruses are widely known to cause infection and disease, even in the form of a pandemic, pathogenic fungi have so far not attracted attention, as they were thought to be responsible for much smaller problems, particularly in healthy people. The reason is that the temperature of the human body is usually quite high, creating an unfriendly environment for the survival of most infectious fungi.
However, according to research by scientists at Duke University in North Carolina this may change. Scientists are sounding the alarm about a dystopian scenario that refers to HBQ’s popular series “The Last Of Us»where a fungus adapts to the temperature of the human body and spreads in the form of a pandemic.
“That’s exactly what we’re talking about – minus the zombies part of the show,” notes the Asiya Gusa, one of the researchers who signed the relevant study. Among the approximately 300 fungi that are pathogenic to humans, the best known are Candida auris, Aspergillus and Cryptococcus.
Currently fungi are considered more dangerous for immunocompromised individualswhose body lacks the necessary defenses to prevent their spread.
THE rise in temperatureworldwide, seems to overturn the data, as the researchers find, noting that on the one hand, fungal diseases will increase, but at the same time these infections could become much more serious for humans.
In the research it is pointed out that higher temperatures have led to rapid genetic mutations of pathogenic fungi. These mutations could enhance their adaptation to warmer environments, such as the human body, but also their resistance to drugs.
“This is a fascinating study, which shows how global warming can affect the evolution of fungi in unpredictable directions. This is one more aspect that should worry us about global warming,” emphasizes Mr Arturo Casadival, chair of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University.
In related research it has been observed that year after year pathogenic fungi become more and more resistant to drugs and for now, scientists emphasize, there are no alternatives.
In October 2022, the WHO in its report underlined that “despite the fact that fungi are a growing threat to human health, the treatment of fungal infections receives little attention and few resources”.
The goal of the WHO seems to be to increase the global surveillance of fungi and to fund more research, so that conclusions can be drawn and the necessary proposals can be made to ensure public health. “There is evidence to suggest that both the incidence and geographic range of fungal infections are expanding globally due to climate change”the report underlines.
Source: News Beast
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