Historical and Global Publications

The incidence of aspergillosis and other ‘deep’ fungal infections has vastly increased since the mid-20th century, when the number of at-risk patients began to grow. This was a result of new developments in medicine leading to a rise in the number of patients on medications such as steroids and immunosuppressants. The Aspergillus Website is regularly updated with recent publications on this group of diseases and their treatment. However, it is also interesting to look back at older sources on aspergillosis and consider how research and treatments have evolved: this page hosts a number of important historical and global sources. For an introduction to the history of invasive aspergillosis, please see:

Key Historical Publications

The first recorded case of aspergillosis (1789). Written by M. PLAIGNAUD, a surgeon at the Hotel Dieu  Hospital, Paris.
The original article is also available here in French.

The first randomised controlled trial (1944), which tested Patulin (a mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus species).

The first description of Aspergillus fumigatus (1863). Produced by Georg W. Fresenius, a German botanist and physician. Description provided in German, with an English translation.

Key Global Publications

India: Presidential Oration: Medical Mycology in India: Past, Present and Future. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Centre for Biomedical Research, University of Delhi. 6th Conference of Society for Indian Human and Animal Mycologists (SIHAM) at Hyderabad (2006).

Germany: The History of Medical Mycology in Germany – a presentation from the TIMMs meeting in Berlin (2005).

Turkey: A list of important papers, including the first reported case of aspergillosis in Turkey (1952)

Japan: Medical history and progress in infectious diseases, especially systemic fungal infections in Japan (in Japanese)

Further Historical and Global Sources

Unfortunately, the papers cannot be found for a number of these references: PDFs are provided where possible.