Around four million people are dying every year from fungal infections, new research indicates – nearly double the previous global estimate.
The study, published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, says that more than 6.55 million people annually are affected by invasive fungal infections. These lead to more than 3.75 million deaths, of which 2.55 million are directly attributable to fungal disease.
According to the estimate, this means fungal infections account for around six per cent of all global deaths, killing six times more people than malaria, and almost three times as many as tuberculosis.
There are millions of different fungal species across the planet, which humans are regularly exposed to in everyday life. The vast majority of people have immunity to these infections and do not develop disease.
However, such pathogens can be deadly for those with weakened immune systems, such as cancer and HIV patients, who make up a large number of the people dying every year from fungal infections.
The revised global death toll is based on an extensive review of data taken from hundreds of studies published between 2010 and 2023, along with 85 papers on global disease burdens.
It is higher than previous calculations, which suggested fungal infections kill up to two million people each year.
This estimate failed to take into full consideration those cases of fungal disease that go undiagnosed and untreated because of limited access to diagnostics, the new research said.
Indeed, testing of fungal cultures only identifies about a third of people who actually have a fungal infection, according to Prof David Denning, the chief investigator of the study.