End of Week 1 Summary
Congratulations on completing this week! We hope you enjoyed it. You should have gained an understanding of what fungal diagnostics are and what can make a “good” diagnostic test. Next …
Course: Fungal Diagnostics in Critically Ill Patients
Evidence for Fungal Diagnostics
Fungal diagnostic testing ranges from conventional mycological approaches (culture and microscopy) through to the detection of antigens/antibodies and nucleic acids using serological and molecular biomarker assays, respectively. Obviously, in the …
Probability or specificity – evaluating the evidence
While the probability of infection is obviously proportional to the specificity of the test, it is important to understand the influence of incidence (pre-test probability). Incidence will not affect the …
Introduction to fungal diagnostics
Fungal infections in immunocompromised and critically ill patients can be challenging for a number of reasons. What are fungal infections? Infections are often deep-seated, at sites that are difficult to …
End of course summary
Congratulations on completing this course on the use of fungal diagnostics in critically ill patients! On completion of this course, you should be able to: Improve suspicion and early diagnosis …
The elements of a good fungal diagnostic test
Fungal diagnostics tests Fungal diagnostic tests may require different attributes in the critical care setting or when managing immunocompromised patients. Some tests will need to have a high negative predictive …
Welcome to the course
Welcome to this course on Fungal Diagnostics in Critically Ill Patients, covering the role of fungal diagnostics in guiding treatment decisions. Over the next three weeks, we will look closer …
End of week summary
Congratulations on completing week 3 of the course! This week we examined case studies from a variety of clinical settings. You had opportunities to discuss your thoughts and experiences throughout, …
Introduction to fungi
What are fungi? Fungi are eukaryotic organisms, either multicellular or unicellular, that include a number of microorganisms such as yeasts, mushrooms and moulds. Fungi are classified as their own kingdom …
Surgical patient – continued
In this step, we will continue the surgical case from step 3.7. Prior to EUA, the growth had enlarged to a 3 cm protuberant friable and vascular mass overlying the …
Implementing behavioural change within your organisation to incorporate a diagnostic driven approach
Now that you may have changes that you wish to make in your personal practice and across your healthcare setting, it is important to make sure these are carried out …
Haematology oncology patient – continued
In step 3.3, we introduced the case of an 8-year-old boy who was previously diagnosed with high risk acute lymphatic leukaemia and had developed a fever while being neutropenic during …
Welcome to week 3
Welcome to the final week of “Fungal Diagnostics in Critically Ill Patients”. Last week we discussed how diagnostics can drive treatment choices, the different fungal diagnostic approaches, and the importance …
What are the guidelines for the management of IFIs?
Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are life-threatening conditions that require rapid diagnostic and optimal management to mitigate their high morbidity and mortality rate. They are also associated with a high economic …
Importance of accurate diagnostics
The ideal fungal diagnostic is rapid, specific, sensitive, and accurate. In this step we will focus on the importance of accuracy in fungal diagnostics. Fungal infections are fairly common, with …