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Fungal Immunoepidemiology

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Immunoepidemiology

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Abstract

Invasive mycoses are responsible for staggering levels of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The public health impact of fungal infections is on track to further expand as the population at risk for pathogenic fungi continues to grow, placing an imperative on efforts to address this challenge. The study of fungal immunoepidemiology aims to characterize the range of host immune responses to various fungal infections, to understand how genetic and environment factors affect these responses and to examine how specific innate and acquired immune dysfunction predisposes to particular types of fungal infections. In this chapter, we review fundamentals of fungal classification and morphology as well as the immune response to fungi, from fungal recognition to the innate and adaptive responses. We then examine known pathways involved in immune defense against certain clinically important fungal infections. In order to highlight critical pathways in immune defense, we describe classic innate or acquired immunodeficiencies that have been linked to increased disease susceptibility for each of these fungi. We discuss increased susceptibility to fungal infections in immunocompetent populations, particularly in the context of coccidiomycosis, and how fungal immunoepidemiology informs the global mapping of fungal diseases and the quest for the first antifungal vaccine.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Marwan M. Azar

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  1. Marwan M. Azar
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Correspondence to Marwan M. Azar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health and Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Peter J. Krause

  2. Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Paula B. Kavathas

  3. Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA

    Nancy H. Ruddle

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Azar, M.M. (2019). Fungal Immunoepidemiology. In: Krause, P., Kavathas, P., Ruddle, N. (eds) Immunoepidemiology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25553-4_11

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