“Bell” by Michael Lionakis, director of the Division of Fungal Pathophysiology at the US National Institutes of Health
His concern but also the fears that the next big threat to public health may arise from a fungus that humanity will not be ready to deal with, said the deputy director of the Division of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology and director of the Division of Fungal Pathophysiology at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Michalis Lionakis.
Antimicrobial resistance is not only a top threat to public health, but also to the global economy, as it is estimated that it could cost up to $100 trillion by 2025, the internationally recognized researcher says, adding that this moment 49 news antibiotics and biologics are in phase I, II, and III clinical trials. “This number may be higher than in the past, but it remains insufficient to effectively address the increasing spread of antimicrobial resistance. Steps have been taken in the positive direction in recent years, but we still have a lot of work to do”, emphasizes the distinguished infectious disease specialist and immunologist in an interview with FM Agency and journalist Tania Madouvalou.
Speaking about his lab’s research, he points out that there is now scientific evidence implicating the genetic diversity of genes that regulate our immune response to microbes, and which appear to play an important role in the outcome of bacterial, viral and fungal infections. “Understanding these genetic and immunological factors will enable the identification of high-risk patients and lead to more targeted or personalized treatments. The example of the personalized treatment of oncological diseases in recent years is, in my opinion, a brilliant guide in this direction and for the specialty of infectious disease. “An important part of my laboratory at NIH is working on understanding why some patients are predisposed to more severe or milder symptoms and why some patients have a better or worse prognosis after an infection, so that we can help develop personalized antifungal therapies.”
How climate change has affected the spread of Candida auris
Concerning the fungus Candida auris that scares the scientific community, but also the whole of humanity, Mr. Lionakis reports, as reported by the Athens News Agency, that climate change is probably one of the reasons for its global spread in the last decade, emphasizing at the same time that the resistance of this particular fungus has tripled the last two years. According to the researcher, the discovery of how Candida auris adheres to the skin and central venous catheters through the Surface Colonization Factor, as it is called, may lead scientists in the future to create antibiotics that will inhibit this attachment mechanism.
In addition to Candida auris, the frequency of resistance to other Candida species, such as Candida albicans, and Candida glabrata, is alarmingly increasing, according to Mr. Lionakis, who mentions that another emerging problem of resistance is found in Aspergillus, which can can cause fatal pneumonia in immunocompromised patients and mortality can reach up to 90%.
