Scientists are warning: Growing resistance to antifungal drugs are growing, could lead to more outbreaks

An international team found a vast increase in resistance to antifungal drugs worldwide over the past 30-40 years. Fungal infections had some of the highest mortality rates of infectious diseases. Prof Matthew Fisher, professor of epidemiology at Imperial College London, said this was probably down to farmers spraying their affected crops with the same drugs used to treat fungal infections in patients. The review said improvements were needed in how existing drugs were used, as well as an increased focus on the discovery of new treatments, in order to avoid a "global collapse" in the fight against fungal infections. Prof Sarah Gurr, from the University of Exeter, said: "Emerging resistance to antifungal drugs has largely gone under the radar, but without intervention, fungal conditions affecting humans, animals, and plants will become increasingly difficult to counteract." @ http://www.bbc.com/news/health-44160730