PATHOGENS OF DISEASES CAUSED BY FUNGI, PATHOGENESIS, LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS

The detection of systemic fungal infections continues to be a challenging challenge despite recent scientific advancements and the development of novel techniques. The traditional technique for a confirmed diagnosis, fungal cultivation, has many drawbacks, including long growth times and low sensitivity (only 50% of patients have positive fungal cultures). These elements cause the patient's therapy to be delayed, which raises hospital expenses. Several innovative approaches are being tried in clinical microbiology labs to increase the precision and speed of diagnosing fungal infections. Since the majority of these cutting-edge techniques don't require pathogen isolation, the diagnosis becomes probable rather than proven. The majority of the techniques lack uniformity despite the benefit of being culture-independent. The increasing prevalence of PCR-based techniques has given them a significant position in hospital labs. This is now evident since PCR-based techniques have shown themselves to be a crucial weapon in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary steps of diagnosing a systemic fungal infection will be covered in this overview, including diagnostic classifications, "gold standard" methodology, contemporary molecular techniques, and some more cutting-edge approaches. This article provides comprehensive scientific information regarding mycotases, diseases caused by fungi. The article analyzes the biological characteristics of dermatophytes, Candida species causing candidiasis, Aspergillus, Cryptococcus, Histoplasma, and other pathogenic fungi. The mechanism of disease development (pathogenesis), its interaction with immunity, as well as modern laboratory diagnostic methods - microscopy, culture, serological, and molecular genetic methods - are covered in detail. The article is intended for medical university students, clinical microbiologists, and infectious disease specialists.