Fungal Infection to Be The Next Pandemic. Scientist Warns About The New Challenge

Fungal infections have increased over the past few years which is being neglected by global health discussions. Many researchers are calling this a silent killer. Popular molecular biologist Norman van Rhijn claimed that the pathogens are becoming quite resistant to the anti-fungal drugs which need immediate attention.

If pathogens keep their resistance rates high, there can be close to 6.5 million cases every year, claiming 3 million lives every year. Norman van Rhijn with his team of researchers spoke to various governments and medical centers and urged them to seek research on pathogens. The team also claimed that many fungal infections are often disregarded which may cause a catastrophic experience

"The disproportionate focus on bacteria is concerning because many drug resistance problems over the past decades were the result of invasive fungal diseases, which are largely under-recognized by the community and governments alike," claimed Norman van Rhijn

Certain diseases such as Aspergillus fumigatus are extremely dangerous to the health as they affect the candida and lungs. One of the major consequences of the infection is the yeast-like infection among the older people.

Fungus and their cell are similar to human cells for which developing antifungal medications that can kill the fungi and keep the human cells healthy is costly and challenging as well. Bacteria and Viruses can be cured easily, however, fungi are quite complex to deal with hence, research has to be improved.

"To treat deep or invasive fungal infections, only four systemic antifungal classes are available, and resistance is now the rule rather than the exception for those currently available classes” claimed the research team. They also stated that agriculture is a prime source of such infections among humans because of the presence of fungicides in crops.