Study reveals vast extent of fungal diseases in India

Researchers from India and Manchester have shown that more than 50 million Indians are affected by severe fungal diseases, 10% of which are due to potentially dangerous mold infections.

Experts from India’s three teaching hospitals: AIIMS, New Delhi, AIIMS Kalyani, West Bengal and PGIMER, Chandigarh, together with the University of Manchester, estimate that 57 million—or 4.4% of the 1.3 billion people living in India—potentially affected.

Comprehensive review of data from over 400 published academic articles published in the journal Infectious Diseases Open Forum.

The researchers found that vaginal fungus-or yeast infection—affects approximately 24 million women of reproductive age, with repeated attacks.

Fungal infections of the hair—called tinea capitis—in school-age children are affected in similar numbers. It causes painful scalp infections and causes many people to lose their hair.

The main cause of death is a mold infection that affects the lungs and sinuses, affecting more than 250,000 people. Another 1,738,400 have chronic aspergillosis and 3.5 million have severe allergic lung disease.

More than 1 million people are thought to have a fungal eye disease that can cause blindness, and nearly 200,000 have it. mucormycosis (known as “Black Mold”).

Dr Animesh Ray of AIIMS in Delhi, lead author of the paper, said: “The total burden caused by fungal diseases is huge but underappreciated. While tuberculosis affects less than 3 million people. people per year in India, the number of Indians affected through mycosis several times higher.”

Professor David Denning of the University of Manchester and Global Action on Fungal Disease added: “There have been major improvements in diagnosis in recent years, with public health services in India catching up with the However, fungal diseases continue to pose a threat to public health and are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, placing significant socioeconomic burdens on those in need. And there are still many areas in India where diagnostic capacity is limited, as evidenced by our inability to estimate some important diseases such as histoplasmosis and fungal asthma in children. ”