Why fungal diseases, fuelled by climate change, may be the next global health threat
Dangerous fungal infections that kill millions are becoming more common as the planet warms, and treatment options are few and far between
When most people think of dangerous infections, they picture bacteria or viruses. But for infectious disease specialists like Peter Chin-Hong, one of the most insidious threats lurking in hospitals and clinics today is fungal.
Chin-Hong’s case list is long: a healthy 29-year-old marathon runner from California’s Central Valley whose heart lining was invaded by coccidioides, a soil-dwelling fungus; a lung-transplant recipient coughing up mould nodules – fungal growths scattered throughout his lungs – after stopping antifungal medication; and a 45-year-old woman with poorly controlled diabetes, infected by a black fungus that destroyed part of her face and spread to her brain. Despite multiple operations and treatment, she died in hospital.
“These aren’t rare any more,” said Chin-Hong, associate dean and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “We’re seeing them every day.”
Once considered obscure or opportunistic, invasive fungal infections are now surfacing with alarming frequency – and in patients and places doctors never used to worry about.
Climate change is expanding the geographic reach of fungi. Medical advances like organ transplants, chemotherapy, and intensive care are saving lives, but they also leave more patients immunocompromised.
