Global fungal disease deaths doubled in a decade: Study

London, Jan 14: The annual total of deaths from fungal disease worldwide has risen to 3.75 million, double the previous estimate, according to a global study.

The study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, also calculates an annual total at about 6.55 million acute cases using data from over 80 countries.

Though fungal disease has multiple causes, the updated mortality figures nevertheless dwarf deaths from other single pathogens, killing six times more people than malaria, and almost three times as many than tuberculosis.

Previous estimates were imprecise, as many fungal diseases exacerbate an existing disorder, itself often severe, such as leukaemia or AIDS, argued Professor David Denning, a professor of infectious disease at The University of Manchester.

However, according to the study, of the deaths linked to fungal disease, around 68 per cent -- or 2.55 million were likely to have been directly caused by it.