Invasive Fungal Infections are Causing HIV+ Deaths
PHIL highlighted the growing concern around invasive fungal infections. IFIs are serious infections caused by various fungi that invade and spread within the body, often with devastating consequences. They are among leading causes of death worldwide for people living impaired immune systems like AIDS, cancer, organ transplant or on medicines that interfere with normal human resistance to what may otherwise be innocuous microorganisms. Despite potentially devastating medical consequences in people with certain medical conditions or who live in specific geographic locales, there has been pitifully too little attention, resources or actions to address the magnitude of death, misery and costs caused by IFIs .
On World AIDS day, we want to shine a bright light on the important role IFIs plays in global mortality in Advanced HIV DIsease .
Why are IFIs so bad among people with HIV?
Fungi are one of the main causes of infections in people with weak immune systems, like those living with HIV. These infections are often mistaken for other illnesses because their symptoms can seem like a headache, muscle aches, joint pain, or itchy skin. This leads to misdiagnosis and underreporting of the infections. In places with limited resources, it’s even harder to get good diagnostics and treatment, and the rise of drug-resistant fungi makes it even more challenging to treat these infections.
Although anti-retroviral treatment (ART) has reduced the number of deaths among people with HIV/AIDS, it doesn’t completely eliminate the risk of fungal infections. ART is still the first line of defense, but access to it varies widely depending on where a person lives, especially if they’re far from urban health centers. As a result, up to a million people die each year from these infections, which account for about half of all AIDS-related deaths—more than tuberculosis or other non-infectious diseases.[3]
Why We Need to Take Action
The high death rates from fungal infections among people living with HIV show why it's so important to act now. We need to improve how we track these infections, make better tools for diagnosing them, and develop new treatments. If we don't focus more on this issue and dedicate more resources to it, many lives will continue to be lost to conditions that could have been treated. Global health organizations must prioritize fighting IFIs to ensure that no person with HIV dies from these infections due to a lack of proper care.
Lack of novel antifungals and diagnostics
Despite the serious threat IFIs pose and loss of life, less than 1.5% of all infectious disease research funding goes to fungal infections. This means that most of the guidelines for diagnosing and treating these infections are based on limited research. The widespread use of antifungal drugs in farming also makes it crucial to study how to use current antifungal medicines more effectively to prevent resistance. Research and development for novel antifungals and rapid diagnostics also lags, leaving many outdated treatments that have higher toxicities as the only options for responding. While there are some promising new treatments being developed, the process takes a long time, and companies don’t see enough financial return to invest heavily in antifungal drugs. More research and innovation are desperately needed to tackle this growing global health threat and there is a thesis that tech can lower the costs and speed up distribution.
What is the Public Health Innovation Lab (PHiL)?
The Public Health Innovation Lab (PHiL) is a platform that brings people together to find solutions to major public health problems through research and collaboration. PHiL plays a crucial role in helping experts from different fields work together to develop new tools and technologies. They also push for more funding in areas like fungal infections, which don’t get enough attention. Joining PHiL’s efforts is important for driving the kind of innovation needed to fight fungal infections effectively. By working together, we can close the gap in research, save lives, and improve health outcomes for people living with HIV. The success of PHiL’s work depends on getting more people and organizations involved, making it essential for new partners to join this important mission.
Global Statistics
In HIV patients, various fungal infections have death rates ranging from 3% to 53%.
In Latin America, about 30% of HIV/AIDS patients diagnosed with the fungal infection histoplasmosis die from it.
Worldwide, an estimated 220,000 new cases of cryptococcal meningitis occur each year, leading to 181,000 deaths, with most cases happening in sub-Saharan Africa among people living with HIV..[4]
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[1] https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240060241
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8351866/
[3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24530175/
[4] https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/risk-factors/hiv-aids.html#:~:text=Fungal%20diseases%20are%20still%20a,mostly%20in%20sub%2DSaharan%20Africa.
