What are Fungal Infections and How Does Resistance Impact Treatment?
Fungal infections are becoming increasingly common and fungi’s growing resistance to antifungal treatments poses a serious threat to public health. With only four classes of antifungal medicines currently available and just a few new candidates in the clinical pipeline, it is imperative that healthcare facilities prescribe antifungal drugs appropriately, test for resistant fungi in patients who are not improving and are aware of resistance in their facilities and communities.1
One factor that is threatening to make several infection-causing fungi more widespread is climate change. Climate change can increase the geographic range of pathogenic species or their vectors, leading to the emergence of diseases in areas where they have not previously been reported.2
The invasive forms of fungal infections often affect severely ill patients and those with significant underlying immune system related conditions. Populations at greatest risk of invasive fungal infections include those with cancer, HIV/AIDS, organ transplants, chronic respiratory disease, and post-primary tuberculosis infection.3 While the most common pathogenic yeast species is Candida albicans, it is important to consider other species including Candida auris – which the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified as a fungal pathogen of critical priority.
The rise of Candida auris is alarming as it is a yeast that is often-multidrug resistant and can cause invasive infections and outbreaks in healthcare facilities that are difficult to mitigate.4
Our Solution for Diagnosing Fungal Infections
Early diagnosis of fungal infections and the implementation of appropriate treatment contribute greatly to improved outcomes for patients. Every minute counts to identify patients at high risk of a life-threatening condition. It is important to rapidly identify Candida infections in positive blood culture, alongside other potential pathogens using a syndromic approach. Septic patients with polymicrobial and fungal infections are extremely critical and often have the highest mortality rate compared to other types of bloodstream infections. It is also important to consider that joints can be impacted by fungal infections commonly in prosthetics but sometimes in native joints.5
Solutions Overview
- Fungi Identification: Our CHROMID® offer for fungi detection is unique with direct identification of the most prevalent Candida Albicans pathogen within 24-hours. It means faster time to results for patients in critical care.
- Bloodstream Infections: The BIOFIRE® BCID2 Panel will identify seven fungal infection pathogens, alongside 26 other organisms commonly found in bloodstream infections. The BIOFIRE® BCID2 Panel has minimal hands-on time, with results in about an hour, helping microbiologists and clinicians quickly identify the causative pathogen in a patient suspected of a fungal infection in positive blood culture.
- Joint Infections: Conventional testing for joint infections is complex, often requiring multiple patient samples, various send-out tests, and days of waiting for results. The BIOFIRE® Joint Infection Panel is a rapid syndromic test that delivers comprehensive results in about ~1 hour. With 2 fungal, 29 Bacterial, and 8 AMR targets, the BIOFIRE® JI Panel can facilitate improved management of fungal and polymicrobial detections.
Fungal Infections – Our Diagnostic Offer
We offer flexible options for identification of fungal infection pathogens. Additionally, integration of bioMérieux solutions can help to maximize efficiency in the microbiology laboratory with innovative automation and efficient use of IT solutions that will ensure the right information is in the right hands as quickly as possible.
Disclaimer: Product availability varies by country. Please consult your local bioMérieux representative for product availability in your country.
-
BIOFIRE® Syndromic Trends
Turn BIOFIRE® System Results into Smart Pathogen Trending
Creating a global surveillance network that displays BIOFIRE® Panel test results from participating laboratories and hospitals around the world, BIOFIRE TREND allows users to explore epidemiology insights and better understand site-specific and regional pathogen trends and seasonality.
-
BIOFIRE® FILMARRAY® Gastrointestinal Panel
1 Test. 22 Targets. ~1 Hour.
This alternative method to traditional stool testing is fast, sensitive, and comprehensive with a panel menu that includes bacteria, viruses, and parasites, causing infectious gastroenteritis.
-
BIOFIRE® FILMARRAY® Meningitis/Encephalitis Panel
1 Test. 14 Targets. ~1 Hour.
The BIOFIRE ME Panel provides answers on 14 of the most common bacterial, viral, and yeast pathogens that cause central nervous system infections to help healthcare providers rapidly distinguish between bacterial and viral meningitis and optimize life-saving therapy.
-
BIOFIRE® FILMARRAY® Pneumonia & Pneumonia plus Panels
1 Test. Up to 34 Targets. ~1 Hour.
Syndromic tests targeting a comprehensive menu of bacteria and viruses that cause pneumonia and other lower respiratory tract infections, as well as 7 genetic markers of antibiotic resistance.
-
BIOMÉRIEUX EPISEQ®
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Data Analysis Platform
Provides easy-to-use applications for clinical microbiologists: clinical pathogen outbreak management, microbiome profiling, and SARS-CoV-2 genomics variants identification.
-
Chromogenic & High Medical Value Media
Patented chromogenic media for rapid, reliable culture & identification
The innovative and extensive CHROMID® range of chromogenic media is the easy way to rapidly and reliably detect and identify microorganisms for faster/direct ID and AST results. -
Conventional Media
An extensive range of high quality, cost-effective conventional agar culture media
Put your confidence in bioMérieux, a recognized leader with long-standing expertise in culture media.
-
EMAG®
Nucleic Acid Extraction System
EMAG® offers efficient and flexible extraction to manage both routine and challenging customer needs, supported by a committed and skilled team at bioMérieux.
-
ESTREAM®
Automated PCR Setup
ESTREAM® offers high-precision automated PCR setup for streamlined workflow and secured results.
-
ETEST®
Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing Reagent Strips to Determine On-Scale MICs
Clinicians often need more information than what primary AST can provide. Recognized around the world for their proven performance, ETEST® ready to use reagent strips determine on-scale MICs.
-
LIFE SCIENCES
Accelerate & Simplify Your Research
Innovative and Customizable RUO* solutions to fully automatize your Cell-Mediated Immune Response while ensuring standardization.
*RUO: Research Use Only
-
Liquid Based Microbiology – LBM®
Universal Tubes for Liquid Sample Collection and Transport
Protect your sample quality with the unique LBM® range featuring a universal tube format for collection and transport, blood culture, sample pre-treatment and enrichment. This universal liquid-based multi-purpose system maintains viability of aerobes, anaerobes and fastidious bacteria for 48 hours.*
-
MAESTRIA™
New Generation Microbiology Middleware
An innovative, integrated software solution designed to orchestrate your lab routine and transform data into insights.
-
MYACUTECASE™ Mobile App
All the information you need for confident clinical decision- making with the VIDAS® Emergency & Critical Care assays
Designed for healthcare professionals, MYACUTECASE™ is a first-of-its-kind app. Used in conjunction with clinical assessment and other laboratory findings, it provides comprehensive biomarker information and useful tools for:
-
PREVI® COLOR GRAM
A Market-Leading Automated Gram Stainer Offering Confidence in Results
Gram staining is a key step in your microbiology workflow, and PREVI® COLOR GRAM is the system to streamline it and provide timely staining results for impactful decisions.
Useful Resources for Fungal Infection Diagnostics
CHROMID® Candida Agar Vs. Sabouraud Gentamicin Chloramphenicol 2 Agar Tutorial
CHROMID® Candida Agar Vs. Sabouraud Gentamicin Chloramphenicol 2 Agar Tutorial
Contact Us for Information on Our Solutions for Fungal Infections
References
1. Antimicrobial-Resistant Fungi | Fungal Diseases | CDC. (2022, September 30). Www.cdc.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/antifungal-resistance.html#tackling
2. Nnadi, N. E., & Carter, D. A. (2021). Climate change and the emergence of fungal pathogens. PLOS Pathogens, 17(4), e1009503. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009503
3. WHO releases first-ever list of health-threatening fungi. (2022, October 25). Www.who.int. https://www.who.int/news/item/25-10-2022-who-releases-first-ever-list-of-health-threatening-fungi
4. Ahmad, S., & Alfouzan, W. (2021). Candida auris: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Pathogenesis, Antifungal Susceptibility, and Infection Control Measures to Combat the Spread of Infections in Healthcare Facilities. Microorganisms, 9(4), 807. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9040807
5. Mishra, A., & Juneja, D. (2023). Fungal arthritis: A challenging clinical entity. World Journal of Orthopedics, 14(2), 55–63. https://doi.org/10.5312/wjo.v14.i2.55