Annually, over 150 million severe cases of fungal infections occur worldwide, resulting in approximately 1.7 million deaths per year. Alarmingly, these numbers are continuously on the rise with a number of social and medical developments during the past decades that have abetted the spread of fungal infections. Additionally, the long-term therapeutic application and prophylactic use of antifungal drugs in high-risk patients have promoted the emergence of (multi)drug-resistant fungi, including the extremely virulent strain Candida auris. Hence, fungal infections are already a global threat that is becoming increasingly severe. In this article, we underline the importance of more and effective research to counteract fungal infections and their consequences.
Keywords: Candida; antifungals; antimycotics; azoles; drug; resistance; yeast.
Copyright: © 2020 Kainz et al.