Background

The advent of modern medicine plus AIDS has greatly increased the susceptible population for fungal infection world-wide. Autopsy studies in Europe have shown striking increases in invasive fungal infections, many of which are undiagnosed at death. New antifungal drugs are available, some with better safety profiles than amphotericin B, others with better efficacy but none with uniformly high cure rates. Multiple questions abound – including issues of pharmacodynamics, genetic predisposition, optimal diagnostics, altering epidemiology, combination therapy and many more.

This ESCMID Study Group brings together Europe’s top clinicians, diagnosticians and researchers in invasive fungal infections to create a geographically dispersed critical mass of expertise to address many of these questions. EFISG collaborates with the European Confederation of Medical Micology (ECMM), for example to issue new guidelines on Mucorales, rare yeasts and rare mold infections.