Pathogenic Features, Experimental Models, and Molecular Tools of Human Fungal Pathogens: Who's on WHO's Radar?

With the prevalence of immunocompromising infections, the emergence of new pathogenic species, rising multidrug resistance, hospital outbreaks, and high mortality rates, once neglected fungal pathogens are now taking over the global healthcare arena, necessitating breakthroughs in diagnostics and therapeutics. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently published a list of critical and high-priority fungal pathogens, underlining the need and significance of broadening the focus to include fungal infections, among other life-threatening infectious diseases. This is also a wake-up call to the scientific community to facilitate a better understanding of the emergence, life cycle, spread, virulence, and drug resistance mechanisms in fungal pathogens. The strategies that fungal pathogens adopt to escape the immune system, establish an infection, and combat antifungal drugs are diverse. In this review, we focus on the pathogenic lifestyles of WHO critical and high priority fungal pathogens, with a brief introduction to the epidemiology and infection statistics.