Overview: Human Fungal Pathogens

The medical importance of fungal diseases continues to increase, particularly in individuals with defects in their host responses, either due to genetic defects, co-infections (particularly advanced disease due to human immunodeficiency virus), or from administered medications (chemotherapeutics, steroids, biologics). Moreover, immunologically intact individuals are also at risk for invasive disease from certain fungi, particularly in the setting of large inoculum exposures (histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, etc.) and all individuals are at risk for dermatophytoses and subcutaneous infections. In this encyclopedia collection, we present a broad array of chapters addressing human mycoses in terms of epidemiology, pathogenesis, manifestations and treatment approaches.