Fungal pathogens are responsible for an increasing number of emerging infectious diseases.
They account for a growing proportion of nosocomial, or hospital-acquired, infections, particularly among organ transplant recipients and other patients receiving immunosuppressive treatments. Fungal diseases also have become common among AIDS patients. Fungal Pathogens Disease - causing fungi are characterized as either primary or opportunistic pathogens. Primary pathogens can, but do not always, cause disease in healthy people. Opportunistic pathogens, on the other hand, generally are harmless to healthy persons, causing serious disease only in people whose immune systems have been weakened or suppressed.