Fungi: More Than Food

HBO has ruined us with its take on the game series "The Last of Us." Well, ruined only in the aspect that some of us have unlocked a new fear of a zombie fungus outbreak. So of course, any fungal based outbreak happening today gets a little more attention from viewers even if it doesn't hit news outlets hard.

We're sure you can guess what today's blog topic is by now - that's right, a deadly fungal infection that may or may not move to being untreatable much like certain strains of bacteria. The World Health Organization (WHO) currently seems to be the only entity concerned about an outbreak of medication resistant fungal infections, but what is more interesting is the science behind the concern.

Fungi are very interesting in that, like other microorganisms, they're very common. Similar to bacteria and viruses, fungi are everywhere and come in different shapes and sizes. Most of them are harmless, but some are pathogens (which means they can make you sick). Interestingly enough, despite being different organisms entirely, they can all cause similar symptoms. For example, bacteria, viruses, and fungi can all cause pneumonia, but the symptoms are slightly different depending on the type of microbe that caused the infection.

So what's the difference? The easiest one to point out is viruses. Viruses are non-living microbes and require a host to be able to do anything whether that is a cell, or a more complicated multicellular being doesn't exactly matter. There's no real treatment for a virus once you've been infected, but symptoms can be controlled. Vaccinations work to either eliminate the virus upon infection or dampen its impact by allowing the body to mount a stronger immune response. Bacteria on the other hand are considered living, living fungi. Also, like fungi, bacteria are more complex than viruses and don't require a host to survive. Bacteria are everywhere and for the most part are harmless, but there are some that can cause health issues either by taking the nutrients of your body or by producing toxins that can kill cells. Bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics, but they can also develop resistance to antibiotics so that's something to be aware of and look out for.

And now the star of this article, fungi. Unlike bacteria, fungi are eukaryotes, which makes their makeup a bit more complicated than that of bacteria and viruses. Eukaryotes, unlike prokaryotes like bacteria, can be multicellular. Eukaryotes also have a membrane bound nucleus where their DNA is kept unlike prokaryotes that lack a nucleus. There are two main types of fungi: environmental (ie: mold and yeast) and commensals (ie: fungi found on skin).

In general, like bacteria, fungi are harmless, however there are some that can infect people. Fungi can be treated with antifungal medication. Since they don't mutate like bacteria due to having bound and organized DNA, a fungal infection is generally easier to isolate and treat than a bacterial one. So, what's the concern here with the infectious fungi? Apparently, there were three deaths in 2019 that were attributed to a fungal infection that started in the lung. The patients had all been admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) for the flu and appeared to pass away due to a fungus infection found in the lungs.

What does this mean? For now, nothing - at least not to the general public. If more cases are observed in 2023, we're likely to see them with hospitalized COVID or flu patients and that could complicate care, especially for patients with weaker immune systems. The more you know.

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