Posted Today A few years ago, Kevin Pierce, a laconic retired sheriff who has lived his whole life in the Central Valley of California, went to see his family physician about some chest pains. An X-ray showed several nodules in his lungs, suggestive of a spreading cancer – not entirely surprising since Pierce is a...
Tag: <span>Fungal infections</span>
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Fungal invasion of pancreas creates cancer risk
by Greg Williams, NYU Langone Health Certain fungi move from the gut to the pancreas, expand their population more than a thousand-fold, and encourage pancreatic cancer growth, a new study finds. Published online in Nature October 2, the study is the first to offer strong evidence that the mycobiome—the local mix of fungal species in...
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Q&A: What to know about superfungus Candida auris
by Delthia Ricks, Newsday The multidrug-resistant fungus Candida auris has disproportionately affected New York health care facilities, raising questions about its origins, whether it’s here to stay and which health care facilities have been impacted by it. There have been 319 confirmed cases and four probable ones statewide since the fungus, known as C. auris, was identified in New...
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Cystic fibrosis: Existing drug may improve lung function
By Monica Beyer Fact checked by Paula Field Researchers say a drug that is already available on the market can help those affected by cysticfibrosis. Amphotericin, which is an antifungal medication, might help people with cystic fibrosis fight the chronic bacterial lunginfections that tend to occur with this disease, according to a recent study. “The really exciting news is that amphotericin is a...
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Inflammatory monocytes play contradictory roles in fungal infections
Immune cells called inflammatory monocytes are often one of the first responders to infections, but they actually facilitate the progression of Cryptococcus neoformans infection in mice, according to a study published March 21 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Lena Heung and Tobias Hohl of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. According to the authors, these disparate results indicate that inflammatory monocytes possess a plasticity of...
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Inflammatory monocytes play contradictory roles in fungal infections
by Public Library of Science Cryptococcus neoformans cells (black arrows) are visualized within multinucleated giant cells (white asterisks) in the lungs of wild type mice (left panel). Ablation of monocytes in CCR2-DTR mice (right panel) reduces the number of macrophages and multinucleated giant cells and impedes the proliferation of C. neoformans in the lungs. Credit: Heung 2019 Immune cells...
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GenMark Fungal Blood Culture Test Clears FDA
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – GenMark Diagnostics announced today it has received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration for a molecular diagnostic panel assay to detect fungal pathogens from blood cultures of patients with suspected blood stream infections. The test is called the ePlex Blood Culture Identification Fungal Pathogen (BCID-FP) Panel. It runs...
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Important element of immune defense against fungal infections discovered
Fungal infections are a serious health risk. They can be harmful especially to patients whose immune system is compromised through illness or chemotherapy. Scientists have discovered an important mechanism in the body’s defenses against fungi. The discovery explains, among other things, why people with certain genetic variations are more susceptible to fungal infections. To fight...
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