Antifungal Agents: Advances and Problems

This second volume of PDR SPECIAL TOPICS contains five review articles dealing with fungal diseases in humans as well as therapeutic approaches. The first chapter gives an account of the various growth forms of pathogenic fungi and classifies them based on their sexual cycle and on their RNA/DNA patterns. The second chapter describes the clinical manifestations of human fungal infections, their prevalence and epidemiology. The third chapter is devoted to diverse laboratory methods in the field of diagnosis of fungal infections, and the fourth and main chapter presents a complete overview of current antifungal therapy. The increase in fungal infections and the improvement of therapeutic options leading to a demand for reliable antifungal susceptibility testing is the topic of the closing chapter. The volume aims at the practitioner who wants to be abreast of the latest achievements in this field and advanced students who wish to further their studies in this important domain.