Nomenclature for human and animal fungal pathogens and diseases: a proposal for standardized terminology

Nomenclature for human and animal fungal pathogens and diseases: a proposal for standardized terminology

Author:

Sybren de Hoog, Thomas J. Walsh, Sarah A. Ahmed, Ana Alastruey-Izquierdo, Maiken Cavling Arendrup, Andrew Borman, Sharon Chen, Anuradha Chowdhary, Robert C. Colgrove, Oliver A. Cornely, David W. Denning, Philippe J. Dufresne, Laura Filkins, Jean-Pierre Gangneux, Josepa Gené, Andreas H. Groll, Jaques Guillot, Gerhard Haase, Catriona Halliday, David L. Hawksworth, Roderick Hay, Martin Hoenigl, Vit Hubka, Tomasz Jagielski, Hazal Kandemir, Sarah E. Kidd, Julianne V. Kus, June Kwon-Chung, Shawn R. Lockhart, Jacques F. Meis, Leonel Mendoza, Wieland Meyer, M. Hong Nguyen, Yinggai Song, Tania C. Sorrell, J. Benjamin Stielow, Rachel Vilela, Roxana G. Vitale, Nancy L. Wengenack, P. Lewis White, Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, Sean X. Zhang, on behalf of the ISHAM/ECMM/FDLC Working Group Nomenclature of Clinical Fungi

Date: 11 November 2024

Abstract:

Medically important pathogenic fungi invade vertebrate tissue and are considered primary when part of their nature life cycle is associated with an animal host and are usually able to infect immunocompetent hosts. Opportunistic fungal pathogens complete their life cycle in environmental habitats or occur as commensals within or on the vertebrate body, but under certain conditions can thrive upon infecting humans. The extent of host damage in opportunistic infections largely depends on the portal and modality of entry as well as on the host’s immune and metabolic status. Diseases caused by primary pathogens and common opportunists, causing the top approximately 80% of fungal diseases [D. W. Denning, Lancet Infect Dis, 24:e428-e438, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(23)00692-8], tend to follow a predictive pattern, while those by occasional opportunists are more variable. For this reason, it is recommended that diseases caused by primary pathogens and the common opportunists are named after the etiologic agent, for example, histoplasmosis and aspergillosis, while this should not be done for occasional opportunists that should be named as [causative fungus] [clinical syndrome], for example, Alternaria alternata cutaneous infection. The addition of a descriptor that identifies the location or clinical type of infection is required, as the general name alone may cover widely different clinical syndromes, for example, “rhinocerebral mucormycosis.” A list of major recommended human and animal disease entities (nomenclature) is provided in alignment with their causative agents. Fungal disease names may encompass several genera of etiologic agents, consequently being less susceptible to taxonomic changes of the causative species, for example, mucormycosis covers numerous mucormycetous molds.

Keywords: fungal disease; nomenclature; proposal.

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