Control of Human and Animal Aspergillosis – a Health Approach

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Amir SEYEDMOUSAVI

Clinical Center (NIH)

Mohammad T. Hedayati

Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences

Jacques Guillot

INRA Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire, Agroalimentaire et de l'alimentation de Nantes-Atlantique (Oniris)

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The genus Aspergillus is one of the most important filamentous fungal genera, found in a variety of ecological niches, especially soil, where they thrive as saprophytes. Although this genus is widely used in the fermentation and food industries, Aspergillus fungi may cause mycotoxin contamination of crops and soil. In addition, different species of Aspergillus are responsible for a wide range of diseases from localized to fatal disseminated diseases in humans and in a wide range of domestic or wild animals.

Aspergillus infection may occur in hospitalized patients being at increased risk of contracting nosocomial aspergillosis because of their underlying medical conditions. Nosocomial transmission of Aspergillus infection occurs mostly during or after hospital construction or can result from exposure to clinically significant Aspergillus released into the hospital air, air filters, fireproofing materials, air conditioners, duct systems, and dust above false ceilings. More than 300 Aspergillus species are described today, of which only a small number has been confirmed as cause of opportunistic infections.

Over the past decade, a considerable expansion has been occurred in antifungal agent research and several new compounds have been evaluated against invasive aspergillosis. The disease is difficult to both diagnose and treat, and despite some progress in antifungal therapy, mortality rates from invasive aspergillosis remain very high. The administration of amphotericin B, azoles, and echinocandins has been approved for treatment of IA, however resistance to each of the antifungal agents has been reported.

The scope for this Research Topic is to gather articles on the following themes:

- Ecology of Aspergillus in different environments including hospitals

- Molecular epidemiology of clinical and environmental isolates of Aspergillus

- Epidemiology of aspergillosis in patients with different concurrent diseases/problems including hematological malignancies, transplant recipients, and other underlying conditions

- Antifungal susceptibility pattern of different Aspergillus species against different antifungal agents

- Identification of antifungal resistance in different Aspergillus species and detection of relevant mutations

- Introduction of new antifungal agents in the treatment of aspergillosis

- The application of current and new developed biomarkers in the diagnosis of aspergillosis