21st Century Podiatry

11/04/2025

Fungal Resistance - stop ignoring the signs...

Fungal infections are on the rise — and people are starting to die.

The fungus is getting increasingly resistant to treatment, according to the WHO.

Drug-resistant bacteria have long been a focus of global health efforts. Antifungal resistance has been ignored.

Now, people are dying.

Fungi like Candida auris and Aspergillus fumigatus are becoming increasingly resistant to existing treatments, leading the World Health Organization to list them as "critical" pathogens.

In the Netherlands, for instance, resistant A. fumigatus strains now make up 15% of cases — a dramatic rise from two decades ago.

Ferry Hagen, a medical mycologist, calls antifungal resistance a "silent pandemic" because, although it spreads more slowly than bacterial resistance, its effects are no less serious, complicating treatment for life-threatening infections.

The fight against antifungal resistance is particularly challenging due to the similarity between fungal and human cells, which makes developing safe and effective treatments difficult.

To make matters worse, resistance often develops faster than new drugs can be created, partly due to agricultural antifungals that expose fungi to similar compounds. Hagen highlights the need for improved genome sequencing and diagnostic tools to detect resistant strains and understand their underlying mechanisms.

This essential data could lead to better treatments and help curb the spread of antifungal resistance before it becomes an even greater public health crisis.

https://www.who.int/news/item/01-04-2025-who-issues-its-first-ever-reports-on-tests-and-treatments-for-fungal-infections

01/04/2025

Why I got involved in 'fiddling with feet' in the first place - amazing breakthrough!!

Mr. Quddus shares his experience with a novel treatment option discussed in his poster from SAWC.

01/04/2025

From 2019 - who knew what was about to happen??! 5 years since COVID lockdowns.

“Have a voice. Even if it’s small and tiny at first. Start to hear yourself – whether written online or offline, on a stage or in a meeting room. Get used to talking about your piece so that you can then have a comfortable conversation with possible partners, or local charities, or policymakers.

Keep seeking out organisations such as B1G1 who continue to prove that being small is no obstacle nowadays. In fact, small joining together has a bigger impact in the longer term.

Be proud to be doing what you do, for the reasons you do it.”

– Karen Longwith, founder and director of 21st Century Podiatry

Read her story here: https://www.b1g1.com/businessforgood/2019-legacy-21st-century-podiatry/

10/02/2025

Fascinating (if you're interested!):

07/06/2024

Putting on socks a problem?? Not any more!

05/05/2024

https://jfootankleres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13047-023-00665-5?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2tcg0ysEGhAPA5MfXnsanB8FjkIayUd0ZpdWV9f1C1-9oyWuSv7zM7BvM_aem_AXHt16bsB6XHy0mvNeDVLbx7FNBop4cA0vNW5n0gtM8dX8bh7Fh4uc31hD3y0eJci9U2WLJ8On0LC4e1KAoFPrEd #:~:text=Clinical%20diagnosis%20should%20consider%20terbinafine,effective%20antifungal%20use%20in%20patients

Dermatophytes are group of filamentous fungi which have adapted to living on the skin of humans and other animals. In the last decade, reports have emerged from Asia of new dermatophyte strains showing resistance to the commonly used antifungal agent terbinafine and others. The spread of these resis...