Fungal Disease Awareness Week is October 1-5, 2018. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its partners organize this week to highlight the importance of recognizing serious fungal diseases early enough in the course of a patient’s illness to provide life-saving treatment. Some fungal diseases go undiagnosed and cause serious infections in people in the United States and around the world, leading to illness and death. Increased awareness about fungal diseases is one of the most important ways we can improve early recognition and reduce delays in diagnosis and treatment.
Use the below opportunities/resources to raise awareness about fungal disease and be sure to “Think Fungus” when symptoms of infection do not get better with treatment.
- Join CDC on October 1 (12pm ET) for a Facebook Live event and learn how to help protect yourself from fungal diseases.
- Follow #FungalWeek on Twitter and consider retweeting @CDCgov; @CDC_NCEZID, and @CDCGlobal.
- Learn more about fungal diseases in the U.S. and around the globe through some of CDC’s recent publications and help us promote new reports in the coming weeks:
- CDC’s new report, Estimation of direct healthcare costs of fungal diseases in the United States, shows that fungal diseases cost over $7 billion each year in the U.S.
- A recent Emerging Infectious Disease article, Candida auris in Healthcare Facilities, describes the importance of strengthening infection control in healthcare facilities to stop the spread of Candida auris in the U.S.
- A new report, Burden of HIV-associated histoplasmosis compared with tuberculosis in Latin America: a modelling study, indicates that neglected fungal disease histoplasmosis is one of the most common causes of death in people living with HIV in Latin America.