Fungi are a very varied group of organisms that are different from animals and plants. They are found in all sorts of habitats and live in the environment around us. The UK & Ireland are home to over 10,000 different types of fungi. They cannot make their own food and so often live on other organisms, absorbing their nutrients. Fungi most commonly feed on dead plants and animals. This is why autumn is the most common time of the year to observe them in woodland environments, usually on dead, decaying leaves, rotting logs, and on dead animals. Fungi multiply by releasing small structures called spores that can form new fungi.
Fungi can be beneficial to humans as a food source or used as part of a food manufacturing process, for example, in baking bread and producing many kinds of cheese. Fungi have also proven crucial in the development of many important medicines. The discovery of penicillin moulds (a type of fungi) by Alexander Fleming in the 1940s allowed us to develop drugs, known as antibiotics, which are used to treat or prevent some types of infection caused by bacteria. This finding is considered one of the greatest advances in medicine of all time.
The average human inhales approximately 200–300 spores a day, which poses no problem to healthy people. Although most fungi are harmless to humans, not all fungi are good for us. Most fungi are inedible, and some can be highly toxic. This is why eating mouldy bread, un-identified woodland mushrooms or growing fungi in your home environment is not safe. Damp mouldy home environments can be dangerous because of the vast number of fungal spores which are released and can therefore be breathed in.
Fungi can cause infections in humans. These can affect anyone, and they can appear on various parts of the body. ‘Athlete’s foot’, ‘oral or vaginal thrush’ and ‘ringworm’ are all caused by fungi. These are called superficial infections which means they are usually in or around the skin, surface of the skin or close to a wound or cut. Normally, superficial infections do not spread to deeper parts of the body. They are usually minor and just a mild irritation for most people.
There are some types of fungi, which normally do not cause infections in humans, but can cause sickness in people with a weak immune system or a severe health issue. These can be people with blood cancers, or those who have received an organ or bone marrow transplant. These are called opportunistic fungal infections. Such fungi may cause infections of the deeper tissues including the lungs or heart. In these deeper infections, called systemic or invasive disease, the fungi can cause serious disease and may even lead to death.
It is important to understand that these invasive fungal diseases usually only occur in people whose immune system does not work as well as it should, and this means their body is unable to fight the fungus.
Although invasive fungal diseases are serious and can cause death, there are also various ways to prevent and treat them. Survival has improved greatly over the last few decades.
If you are concerned that you may have developed signs or symptoms of a fungal disease, make an appointment to speak with your doctor.
You may be given an antifungal, a type of medicine that is used to treat fungal infections.
If you have been given an antifungal for a fungal infection, further information can be found on the patient information leaflet for that medicine. These can be found inside the drug packaging or on the websites below.
If you live in the UK, click this link to search for patient information leaflets: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc
If you live in Ireland, click this link to search for patient information leaflets: https://www.medicines.ie
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