For this narrative review, we describe recent high-profile and severe outbreaks of emerging fungal infections, emphasizing lessons learned and opportunities to improve future prevention and response efforts. Several themes and challenges remain consistent across a diverse array of fungal outbreaks, including the multidisciplinary need for improved diagnostic testing to determine species and perform antifungal susceptibility testing, clinical awareness, and optimization of antifungal use. Recent outbreaks exemplify the growing promise of non-culture-based tools in identifying fungal outbreaks and improving responses, although access remains limited. Culture-based tools remain critical for performing antifungal-susceptibility to guide therapy.
Keywords: Blastomycosis; Candida auris; Candida parapsilosis; Dermatophytosis; Fungal meningitis; Fungal outbreak; Fusariosis; Mucormycosis.
Published by Elsevier Inc.