Course: The Role of Antifungal Stewardship

The medical team decide to treat this patient with empirical antifungal therapy. They suspect he may have developed candidaemia during his ICU admission. His background of type 2 diabetes, indwelling …

What antifungal stewardship approaches could be used to prevent overuse of antifungals in the ICUs? What diagnostics are available and how should these be used? β-1-3-D-glucan Has good sensitivity for …

Part of the challenge that fungal infections pose is that confirming a diagnosis can be difficult. If candidaemia is suspected, empirical treatment is indicated. This principle is based on the …

Invasive Candidosis = deep seated infection of tissues or organs by one of the Candida species Candidaemia = proven or probable bloodstream infection by one of the Candida species (a …

Richard Wilson, a 54-year old man presents to the Emergency Department. He has a 3-day history of fever, tiredness and feeling generally unwell. His medical background is significant for Type …

We are now familiar with the main classes of antifungals. But how do we use them appropriately? Antimicrobial stewardship aims to reduce unnecessary and inappropriate prescribing and to minimize the …

Antifungals are antimicrobials too Antimicrobials are drugs aimed at killing non-human organisms within the body. Antibiotics are used against bacteria and are subject to wide-reaching stewardship programmes. Antifungals are also …

Fungal biomarker testing Detection of fungal antigens (biomarkers) in sterile site samples is often the most sensitive method to confirm or to rule out the presence of invasive fungal infection. …

Fungal infections can be a diagnostic challenge resulting in overuse of antifungals. This is particularly the case with systemic fungal infections with high mortality. A spectrum of diagnostic tests is …

Subcutaneous mycoses Subcutaneous fungal infections extend from the lower skin layers down to the bone. They almost always result from inoculation via a break in the skin surface (trauma). Inoculation …

It is important to understand how fungi cause disease in order to know how to prevent the development of infection and to control its source when infection has already developed. …

Introduction to fungal infections Fungal infections in humans can be broadly divided into (i) superficial skin and mucosal infections and (ii) deep or systemic infections. Superficial infections do not necessarily …

This course has been developed by specialists in their field from the UK. Dr Riina Richardson Dr Richardson is a Consultant Medical Mycologist for the NHS Mycology Reference Centre Manchester …