ABSTRACT
Fungal infections have become of increasing medical importance over the last several decades. This has mainly been due to the increasing emergence of two groups of immunocompromised patients, HIV-infected individuals, and cancer patients, although surgical patients and newborn infants are also at risk. Additional predisposing factors identified have been the widespread use of broad spectrum antibiotics (surveillance cultures of GI and/or GYN tracts often become positive for yeast after I or more weeks of antibiotic therapy), use of long-term indwelling venous and urethral catheters, malnutrition, diabetes, obstructive uropathy, and renal failure. The HIV pandemic has created millions of individuals susceptible to opportunistic pathogens, including many fungi that are not usually associated with human pathogenesis. The primary example in the setting of AIDS is Pneumocystis carinii, which causes pulmonary illness and can cause systemic infection. With the advent of antiretroviral therapy, the life span of these patients has been increased, thus creating a larger window of opportunity for infection [1]. Cancer patients are the other group of immunocompromised patients that are neutropenic due to chemotherapy or to bone marrow transplantation. These patients are highly susceptible to fungal infection; however, the incidence of infection caused by anyone species is quite low. For example, infections caused by specific species of Candida may vary between < 1-10%, Aspergillus 5-15%, and Fusarium <2% of serious fungal infections in these patients [2].
