ABSTRACT
With the employment of modern chemotherapeutic modalities in the 1960's, susceptible hosts were created for several opportunists and with the advent of the AIDS era in the 1980's, a broad range of opportunistic pathogenic fungi are making their appearance on the clinical scene. Exposure to the spores through the respiratory tract is a common occurrence, yet Aspergillus is not a common cause of human disease except in the severely immunocompromised population. In general, aspergillosis is diagnosed through a combination of culture, demonstration of the organisms in tissues and clinical presentation consistent with disease. Surgery plays a prominent role in the treatment of some Aspergillus infections, especially in sinus disease, endocarditis and brain abscess. Dermatophytes are a group of fungi that cause infection of superficial keratinized tissues, such as epidermis, hair and nails. Meningitis or meningoencephalitis are the most common presentations of central nervous system disease and are also the most common cause of death from cryptococcosis.
