Think Fungus: Fungal Disease Awareness Week

Fungal Disease Awareness Week is September 21-25, 2020. CDC and partners have organized 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, leading to serious 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. A key clue to when a sick person may have a fungal disease is that he or she is being treated with medicine for another type of infection but does not get better.

It’s important to consider fungal diseases in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic because the symptoms of some fungal diseases can be like those of COVID-19, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath. To provide appropriate care, laboratory testing is necessary to tell if a person has a fungal infection or COVID-19.

We encourage healthcare providers and patients to “Think Fungus” when symptoms of infection do not get better with treatment. Join us in sharing information to increase awareness in your community about fungal diseases. The quicker doctors can diagnose the right illness, the quicker patients can be treated the right way.

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Page last reviewed: October 5, 2020

Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases (DFWED)