Editorial

From Editor’s Desk… Fungal diseases remain a major medical concern, posing a global hazard to human health and affecting about one billion people. The second wave of COVID-19 has hit particularly hard, drastically increasing the incidence of invasive fungal infections in countries like India. Fungal infections linked to COVID-19, primarily caused by Aspergillus and Candida species, as well as fungus belonging to the order Mucorales, have been documented in multiple countries as posing a serious threat to the healthcare system. Individuals with COVID-19 who are hospitalized are more likely to have fungal co-infections, which can worsen their prognosis by misdiagnosing the illness, which frequently leads to treatment failure and a high death rate. Elderly, critically ill, and immunocompromised patients are more prone to opportunistic fungal diseases. Other rare but increasingly common fungal infections include those caused by Pneumocystis jirovecii, Histoplasma sp., Cryptococcus sp., and others. Fungal-related hospitalizations rose by 8.5% annually in the US between 2019 and 2021, per data that was released. Compared to patients with non-COVID-19 associated fungal infections (12.3%), hospitalized patients with COVID-19 linked fungal infections had greater in-hospital mortality rates (48.5%). More surveillance for fungal diseases is required, especially during pandemics of respiratory viruses. Given the enormous worldwide devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative that we get more ready for infectious disease outbreaks in the future and conduct thorough public health surveillance for fungal illnesses in order to characterize disease epidemiology and direct efforts to prevent illness and death. Healthcare professionals should be more informed and ready, particularly when it comes to high-risk patients. More research, improved treatment techniques, and quicker diagnosis are required to manage these fungal infections. Dr. Khalid Mohammed Alabdulwahhab Editor in Chief