A new research paper out of the Imperial College London has warned that drug-resistant mould is spreading and causing health issues in vulnerable people.
The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is often found in the environment in soil, and is largely harmless to most people. But for people with compromised immunity or lung conditions, the spores can cause an infection in the lungs known as aspergillosis, which can be fatal if untreated.
Antifungal drugs have long been used in this kind of infection, but in the same way that antibiotics are no longer effective against all kinds of bacterial infections, there is evidence of certain fungi becoming resistant to antifungals.
“Understanding the environmental hotspots and genetic basis of evolving fungal drug resistance needs urgent attention because resistance is compromising our ability to prevent and treat this disease,” says senior author Matthew Fisher, a professor at the Imperial College London School of Public Health.
The study looked at 218 samples of mould across the UK and Ireland, with approximately three-quarters of the samples from patients, with the remaining number from environmental sources. Almost half were resistant to standard treatment.
At least six of the samples from patients suggested that they had been infected with mould from an environmental source.
“Our study finds that both routes of infection are possible and confirms concerns that pre-resistant mould spores in the environment are able to enter and infect people’s lungs, causing harder-to-treat disease,” says Rhodes.