Drug-resistant fungi warning: Scientists warn of rising global health threat

Drug-resistant fungi are increasing worldwide, raising concerns for patient safety and prompting calls for stronger surveillance and new antifungal treatments

Resistance to existing antifungal medicines is rising in both environmental and clinical settings, driving urgent calls for improved monitoring, infection control, and development of new treatments.

Researchers call for an urgent global action plan

Fifty researchers worldwide, including those from the University of Manchester, have issued a stark warning that drug-resistant fungi found in soil, crops, and hospitals are becoming increasingly resistant to available medicines.

For most healthy individuals, drug-resistant fungi pose little danger. However, patients with weakened immune systems are at increased risk of potentially deadly reactions.

Global strategies that prioritise antimicrobial resistance have focused primarily on bacteria and viruses, largely overlooking fungi. To tackle this, the researchers have produced a five-step plan to improve awareness, surveillance, infection control, responsible drug use, and investment in new treatments.

The plan is intended to help shape the World Health Organization’s updated Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance later this year.

Scientists warn resistant fungi are spreading from environment to hospitals

There are several dangerous, drug-resistant fungi spreading, including Trichophyton indotineae, which causes severe skin infections increasingly hard to treat.

Candida auris, a fungus that can cause life-threatening bloodstream infections and death in around a third of those affected, is another concerning pathogen.

Aspergillus fumigatus is a common mould that has developed resistance to widely used azole drugs in many countries.

Experts say this resistance begins in the natural environment, not in hospitals.

Fungicides used in agriculture are similar in composition to the antifungal medicines in human healthcare. This similarity enables fungi exposed to the environment, such as those on crops or in soil, to develop resistance. These resistant strains can then spread to people and animals.

This link—called One Health—between the environment, agriculture, and medical treatment means that resistance emerging in fields or farms can directly undermine the effectiveness of antifungal treatments used for people.

The researchers say that a coordinated action across science, farming, healthcare and policy is essential to protect global food supplies and patient safety. They point towards early initiatives, including the WHO’s fungal priority pathogen list and new One Health working groups, but warn that these must be a global effort.

“Farmers use huge amounts of fungicides to protect crops, and some of these chemicals stay in the environment for decades,” said Professor Mike Bromley from the University of Manchester.

“There is now clear evidence these chemicals are helping fungi evolve into strains that can no longer be treated in people, plants or animals.”

“If we don’t act, we will see more infections that simply can’t be cured, which puts lives and food supplies at risk,” he added.

Professor Paul Verweij from Radboud University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, said: “We are already seeing a quiet rise in dangerous fungi, from Candida auris in intensive care units to moulds in the community that no longer respond to standard medicines.

“Unless antifungal resistance is included in the WHO’s 2026 global plan with proper funding and targets, we risk repeating the same mistakes made with antibiotic resistance.

“Using the same types of antifungal chemicals in both farming and medicine is speeding up resistance, and what happens in the fields is now affecting what happens in hospital wards,” added Professor Michaela Lackner of the Medical University of Innsbruck.