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.
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VIDAS® Hepatitis Panel
Routine and confirmation testing of Hepatitis A, B, C and E
The VIDAS® Hepatitis panel includes 11 markers for the diagnosis of recent infection, monitoring of chronic hepatitis, pre- or post-vaccination immunity controls and screening during pregnancy.
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VIDAS® High sensitive Troponin I
Optimize the Management of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS)
The VIDAS® High sensitive Troponin I assay is intended to be used as an aid in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction delivering actionable results in only 2 hours and for the risk stratification of adult patients with acute coronary syndrome.
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VIDAS® Hormone & Fertility Assays
A Full Panel for the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Infertility and Adrenocortical Disorders
The VIDAS® Fertility Panel provides key diagnostic tools for the investigation of reproductive hormone dysfunctions such as precocious and delayed puberty, amenorrhea, hirsutism, hyperprolactinemia, perimenopause and menopause, hypogonadism, gynecomastia, and azoospermia.
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VIDAS® KUBE™
Stackable benchtop automated immunoassay solution
VIDAS® KUBE™ is designed to preserve everything labs appreciate about the VIDAS® Solution combined with advanced technology. VIDAS® KUBE™ is a truly flexible, cost-effective automated immunoassay solution providing fast results in complete confidence.
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VIDAS® NEPHROCHECK®
Reveal Kidney Stress Early. Drive Better Outcomes.
VIDAS® NEPHROCHECK® is an automated test for use on the VIDAS® 3 instrument for the immunoenzymatic quantitative determination of TIMP-2 (Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2) and IGFBP-7 (Insulin-like Growth Factor-Binding Protein 7) proteins in human urine using the ELFA technique (Enzyme Linked Fluorescent Assay).
The VIDAS® NEPHROCHECK® assay is intended to be used in conjunction with clinical evaluation as an aid in the risk assessment for moderate or severe acute kidney injury (AKI) in acutely ill patients.
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VIDAS® NT-proBNP2
Exclusion or Confirmation of Acute Heart Failure
VIDAS® NT-proBNP2 is a useful tool for rapid and clinical assessment and diagnosis of patients with symptoms of suspected heart failure.
High sensitivity and specificity allows initiation of timely, appropriate treatment.
Cost-effective tool adapted to emergency situations.
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VIDAS® SARS-COV-2
Two immunoassay tests to detect IgM & IgG antibodies
VIDAS® SARS-COV-2 IgM and VIDAS® SARS-COV-2 IgG II automated assays rapidly detect antibodies to help identify individuals with previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
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VIDAS® TB-IGRA
Reliable and fully automated solution for Tuberculosis (TB) infection detection
Available on the VIDAS® 3 immunoanalyzer, VIDAS® TB-IGRA is an aid in the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.
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VIDAS® TBI (GFAP, UCH-L1)
RULES-OUT Intracranial Lesions for mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Fast all-in-one test kit based on blood-based brain biomarkers to predict absence of intracranial lesions in mild Traumatic Brain Injury patients and objectively assess the need for a head CT-scan.
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VIDAS® Thyroid Assays
A Full Panel for the Investigation of Thyroid Diseases
The VIDAS® Thyroid panel includes 8 automated tests to aid clinicians in the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of thyroid disorders.
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VIDAS® ToRC Panel
Serenity throughout Pregnancy
The VIDAS® ToRC panel includes 9 automated tests for the screening and diagnosis of toxoplasmosis, rubella, and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections.
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VIDAS® Tumour Markers
Diagnosis and Treatment Monitoring of Various Cancers
The VIDAS® panel of Tumour Markers offers a fast, automated, precise, and reliable solution to meet your diagnostic needs.
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VIDAS® B•R•A•H•M•S PCT™
Important Biomarker for Improved Patient Management
Detects procalcitonin, a biomarker that aids in the risk assessment for progression to severe sepsis and septic shock. PCT also aids in decision making on antibiotic therapy for patients with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI).
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VILINK®
Optimize Instrument UPTIME to Improve Laboratory Productivity
A secure solution offering remote access, proactive maintenance, and remote updates. VILINK® diagnoses, solves software and instrument issues, and supports your systems to enable laboratory productivity and efficiency improvements.
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