Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum (left), Director, Center for Medical Mycology, Professor of Mycology, University Hospitals of Cleveland, US with other speakers at the recenlty held anti-fungal campaign in Jeddah.JEDDAH – The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has approved a new drug to treat Candidemia, a potentially life-threatening invasive bloodstream fungal infection. Pfizer, the manufacturer of the new medicine Ecalta, has a portfolio of anti-infective speritonitis, acute or chronic inflammation of the peritoneum, the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity and surrounds the internal organs. Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum - Director, Center for Medical Mycology, Professor of Mycology, University Hospitals of Cleveland, US who held presentations and discussions regarding the new drug with the concerned medical practitioners in Jeddah recently, said Candemia is the most deadly of the common hospital-acquired bloodstream infections, with a mortality rate of approximately 40 percent. Dr. Ghannoum has been awarded the 2009 Billy Cooper Award of the Medical Mycological Society of the Americas. The annual B. Cooper Award is in recognition of an outstanding contributor to the practice of diagnostic clinical mycology. Dr. Ghannoum's combined strengths in outstanding laboratory research and clinical service distinguished him for this award. Invasive fungal infection is considered the 4th main most common cause of bloodstream infection in intensive care units (ICU) and the 2nd cause of death in ICU patients. In the US, patients with Candidemia on average spend an additional 10 days in the hospital at an average increase in hospital charges of about $39,000 per patient. "Major challenges to the practicing clinicians include the difficulty in identifying invasive fungal infections without overt sites of infection and in differentiating those of fungal origin versus bacterial origin," he said. With less than 50 percent of Candida still do not have positive blood cultures upon dissemination and only 43 percent of autopsy-proven cases of Candidiasis being diagnosed by means of blood culture, invasive fungal infections are significantly under diagnosed. "Such unmet medical need at ICU has triggered the development of new effective and safe life-saving medicines that show improved efficacy in the treatment of Invasive Fungal Infections," he added. Patients at high risk for Candidemia and systemic Candidiasis candidiasis are those with infection of the mucous membranes caused by the fungus Candida albicans. – SG
