Children and fungal priority pathogens

Fungal infections affect more than a billion people and best estimates suggest that more than 1·5 million deaths annually worldwide are caused by invasive fungal infections, yet they attract less than 1·5% of infectious diseases research spending. 1 Bongomin F Gago S Oladele RO Denning DW Global and multi-national prevalence of fungal diseases-estimate precision. J Fungi (Basel). 2017; 3: 57 Crossref PubMed Scopus (1608) Google Scholar These infections are increasing, with new risk groups being identified and antifungal resistance emerging. Children face systematic disadvantages in global efforts to diagnose and treat fungal infections. Although clinical epidemiology and laboratory data are limited for all age groups, there is often complete absence of surveillance, based on routine clinical diagnosis or syndrome surveillance, for paediatric fungal infections.