Antifungal Agents

Fungal Infections

Fungal infections are caused by microscopic organisms that can invade the epithelial tissue.

The fungal kingdom includes yeasts, molds, rusts and mushrooms.

Fungi, like animals, are hetrotrophic, that is, they obtain nutrients from the environment, not from endogenous sources (like plants with photosynthesis). Most fungi are beneficial and are involved in biodegradation, However, a few can cause opportunistic infections if they are introduced into the skin through wounds, or into the lungs and nasal passages if inhaled.

Diseases caused by fungi include superficial infections of the skin by dermatophytes in the Microsporum, Trichophyton or Epidermophyton genera. These dermophytic infections are named for the site of infection rather than the causative organism.

Dermatophytes?

Dermatophytes are fungi that require keratin for growth. These fungi can cause superficial infections of the skin, hair, and nails.

Systemic infections are caused by the inhalation of spores and cause fungal pneumonia. This pneumonia cannot be transmitted from human to human. Many of the organisms that cause systemic fungal infections are confined to specific geographic locations due to favorable climates for their proliferation.

Organisms that cause opportunistic infections will not gain a foothold in healthy individuals, but in the immunocompromised they can cause serious, sometimes lifethreatening infections. Patients especially susceptible to these infections include individuals with leukemia and other blood diseases, cancer, HIV and other immunodeficiencies, and diabetes.