Study reveals huge extent of fungal disease in India
Over fifty million Indians are affected by serious fungal disease, 10% of which are from potentially dangerous mould infections researchers from India and 野狼社区 have shown.
The experts from three Indian teaching hospitals: AIIMS, New Delhi, AIIMS Kalyani, West Bengal and PGIMER, Chandigarh along with The University of 野狼社区 estimate that 57 million - or 4.4% of the 1.3 billion people who live in India - are likely to be affected.
The comprehensive review of data from over 400 published academic articles is published in the journal .
Vaginal thrush - or yeast infection - they found, affected around 24 million women of reproductive age, with repeated attacks.
Hair fungal infection - known as tinea capitis - in school-age children affected a similar number. It causes a painful infected scalp and leaving many with hair loss.
Major contributors to death were mould infections affecting lungs and sinuses, affecting over 250,000 people. Another 1,738,400 people had chronic aspergillosis and 3.5 million with serious allergic lung mould disease.
Over 1 million are thought to have potentially blinding fungal eye disease and nearly 200,000 with had mucormycosis (so called 鈥楤lack mould鈥�).
There have been major diagnostic improvements in recent years, with public health services in India catching up with private hospitals in terms of capability. However, fungal disease continues to be threat to public health and a cause of significant morbidity and mortality representing a considerable socioeconomic burden to those who are infected by them
Dr Animesh Ray of AIIMS in Delhi, the lead author of the article, said: 鈥淭he total burden due to fungal diseases is huge but under-appreciated.
鈥淲hile tuberculosis affects less than 3 million people in a year in India, the number of Indians affected by fungal disease are several times higher.鈥�
Professor David Denning of The University of 野狼社区 and Global Action For Fungal Disease added: 鈥淭here have been major diagnostic improvements in recent years, with public health services in India catching up with private hospitals in terms of capability.
鈥淗辞飞别惫别谤, fungal disease continues to be threat to public health and a cause of significant morbidity and mortality representing a considerable socioeconomic burden to those who are infected by them.
鈥淎nd there remain large parts of India with limited diagnostic capability, as evidenced by our inability to estimate some important diseases such as histoplasmosis and fungal asthma in children.鈥�