Microbiological Laboratory Testing in the Diagnosis of Fungal Infections in Pulmonary and Critical Care Practice
Key Points
Key Points
- The rising prevalence of fungal infections is likely related to several factors, including an ever-growing population of susceptible patients.
- Furthermore, endemic mycoses continue to pose a threat to both immunocompetent and immunosuppressed individuals.
- Recent advances in laboratory diagnostics have evolved to assist the diagnosis of pulmonary fungal infections.
- These guidelines focus on the use of galactomannan (GM) antigen and PCR testing in the diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), (1➝3)-β-D-glucan (BDG) assays or invasive candidiasis (IC), and the use of antigen and antibody testing in the diagnosis of endemic mycoses.
Diagnosis
Diagnosi...
.... Recommendations
...ive fungal disea...
...n patients with severe immune compromise, such...
...ents suspected of invasive fungal diseases, inc...
...vasive pulmonary aspergillos...
...nts with severe immune compromise, such as those...
In patients with severe immune compromise, s...
...severe immune compromise, such as those wi...
...ndidiasis...
...l patients in whom there is clinical concer...
...stoplasmos...
...he ATS recommends the use of Histoplasm...
...S suggests the use of Histoplasma serologies...
...lastomyco...
...tients with appropriate geographic exposure...
...with suspected blastomycosis, the ATS s...
...h suspected blastomycosis, particularly in immunoc...
...cidioidomycos...
...nts with appropriate geographic exposu...
...suspected coccidioidomycosis, particular...
...patients with suspected community...