FORBIMED

RESEARCH COLLABORATION - BIOMARKERS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST INFECTIOUS DISEASES

D3 - Development of Novel Diagnostic Procedures for the Detection of Invasive Fungal Infections

Invasive fungal infections are a major problem in modern medicine and many of them are caused by molds. Severely immuncompomized patients have a high risk to develop these infections, e.g. after stem cell transplantation. The mortality is high due to the limited diagnostic and therapeutic options. Aspergillus fumigatus is currently the most important pathogenic mold, but infections by Fusarium ssp. and Mucorales are an emerging problem. Moreover, high numbers of unreported cases of Fusarium and Mucorales infections are likely, since diagnostic tools for detection of these pathogens are lacking.
One major aim of this project is the development of an improved galactomannan detection assay for diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis. However, life-threatening invasive fungal infections are increasingly caused by other molds and a second part of the project therefore aims at the development of specific antibodies for Fusarium ssp. and Mucorales. These antibodies are tools for detection by immunofluorescence, but also a prerequisite for the development of specific serological assays for these pathogens.

Project partners: