What Is the Target? Clinical Mycology and Diagnostics

Abstract

Diagnosing fungal infections, especially invasive fungal infections, remains a problem. Traditional diagnostic methods, such as histopathology, microscopy and culture, which are still considered the gold standards, have low sensitivity, which underscores the need for the development of new techniques of detecting fungal infectious agents. Indeed, novel serologic and molecular methods have been developed. Tests like the galactomannan antigen test for detection of aspergillosis and the beta-d-glucan test for detection of invasive yeast and mould infections have already been established as important diagnostic approaches and are implemented in routine clinical practice. Lateral flow tests have been developed for the detection of aspergillosis and cryptococcosis and seem to be very valuable tools. Also, PCR and other molecular approaches have proved promising in clinical trials and are important though not always standardized. Still, the combination of various diagnostic tools is mandatory to allow earlier diagnosis of systemic fungal infections.