Biologists from Imperial College London collected 218 samples from 2005 to 2017 in various parts of the UK.
The study showed that resistant todrug-resistant strains are common in the environment. The biologists extracted DNA from mold samples and sequenced it to determine if there was an exchange of genetic material in resistant spores found in the environment and in patients. The analysis showed that at least six patients contracted the drug-resistant fungus from the environment and not from other patients.
Increasingly, cases of aspergillosis seen inclinic, resistant to first-line azoles. However, we weren't sure how patients get these infections—whether they develop in the lungs while the infection is being treated, or whether the mold spores that infect them are inherently resistant to the drugs. Our study shows that both routes of infection are possible and confirms concerns that resistant mold spores that are common in the environment can enter the lungs of people and infect them, causing a disease that is more difficult to treat.
Joanna Rhodes, study co-author at Imperial College London's Center for Global Infectious Disease Analysis
Aspergillus fumigatus is a common moldin an environment that can cause a fungal disease. Inhaled spores are easily cleared from people with healthy lungs, while in people with respiratory diseases or weakened immune systems, the fungus spreads in the lungs, causing aspergillosis.
Biologists believe that the stability of the fungus inenvironment has developed due to the widespread use of azole fungicides in agriculture. These substances are used to fight plant diseases and also act as drugs to treat fungal infections in humans. The researchers emphasize that due to the use of fungicides, the mold acquires resistance to drugs even before it enters the human body.
“Understanding environmental hotspots andThe genetic basis of evolving fungal drug resistance requires urgent attention because resistance compromises our ability to prevent and treat this disease,” says Matthew Fisher, co-author of the study at the Imperial School of Public Health.
Scientists emphasize that the problem with sustainabilitymold to drugs is becoming more acute, because the number of people who have received organ transplants, stem cells, prescribed immunosuppressive drugs, as well as patients with weakened lungs after pneumonia, is constantly growing.
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