Submitted by ROrritt on 5 April 2018
A review by Schwartz et al on the advances in diagnosis and treatment of fungal infections in the CNS has recently been published in the journal ‘The Lancet Neurology’.
The authors discuss the epidemiology of fungal infections in the CNS (including trends and risk groups). They also outline the clinical features and variety of causative pathogens, including Aspergillus and Cryptococcus species, associated with these infections.
The rest of the review is dedicated to advances in diagnosis and treatment. New antifungal agents that are under development are highlighted, including a series of novel tetrazoles that inhibit cryptococcal CYP51 protein and four new small molecules with activity against azole-resistant mould pathogens.
Despite these advances, the authors conclude that fungal infections of the CNS are still difficult to treat and associated with a poor prognosis. They suggest that increased awareness could result in early diagnosis and treatment, but do not discuss how this could be achieved. Further, they suggest that more research on defective antifungal host responses could help to identify those at risk, and develop targeted immune modulatory therapies.
News archives
-
Title
Date
