Abstract
Many fungal pathogens are ubiquitous in the environment as well as being human commensal organisms. Minor infections such as athlete’s foot or other superficial dermatoses are very common but are relative inconveniences that are easily treated with over-the-counter antifungal preparations. Discounting superficial infections, fungal etiologies are an infrequently encountered cause of serious disease. However, with the increasing number of medical innovations that involve immunosuppressive therapy, patients are more frequently faced with life-threatening infections with typically opportunistic fungal pathogens. For the pathologist, fungal infections represent some of the most serious, rapidly progressive, and most difficult to treat infectious conditions. It is therefore paramount to have the ability to correctly categorize and eventually identify fungal pathogens. Some fungal infections, such as rhinocerebral zygomycosis, are particularly aggressive and require swift identification in order for the surgical and infectious disease teams to proceed appropriately.
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Schmitt, B.H. (2017). Fungal Infections. In: Schmitt, B. (eds) Atlas of Infectious Disease Pathology . Atlas of Anatomic Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54702-2_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54702-2_4
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