New global guideline for Candida infections sets standards for diagnosis and treatment

Together with a team of international clinical researchers, Professor Dr Oliver A. Cornely and Dr Rosanne Sprute from University Hospital Cologne have published the new global guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of Candida infections. This guideline establishes new standards for managing fungal infections, which affect millions of people worldwide every year, and was recently published in Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The new guideline contains detailed recommendations on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of various forms of candidiasis – from superficial infections to life-threatening invasive infections – for clinicians, including innovative diagnostic procedures and the latest therapeutic approaches. Particular attention is paid to new challenges such as resistance to common antifungals and the increasing spread of Candida auris, a multi-resistant pathogen.

With this guideline, we have taken an important step towards improving treatment for patients worldwide."

Professor Cornely, head of the global initiative

Co-lead Dr. Sprute added: "Our aim was to pool the expertise of a global network to provide doctors and healthcare professionals with a practical and scientifically sound tool."

The document is the result of four years of intensive collaboration among more than one hundred experts from 35 countries. Supported by the expert associations ECMM (European Confederation of Medical Mycology), ISHAM (International Society for Human and Animal Mycology) and ASM (American Society for Microbiology), the initiator Oliver Cornely invited potential authors for the guideline based on speciality, geography, and gender. Six coordinators were appointed to ensure the structure of the guideline, assign topics, identify missing aspects and monitor progress.

The guideline has been endorsed worldwide by seventy six international expert associations as an important guide for practising physicians and meets the highest standards of quality and relevance to clinical care. "Our compilation is unprecedented and provides a basis for improving the treatment and chances of survival of affected patients worldwide," said Cornely, underlining the significance of the work.