Environment - Mycoherbicides - 8-25-11

(Human Health Threat Posed By Fusarium Species) "Fusarium species have emerged as major cause for fungal infections.[21] The first invasive fusariosis was reported in a child in 1973.[22] Invasive Fusarium infections represent an increasing cause of infectious morbidity and mortality in patients with blood cancer.[23] While aspergillosis remains the most common mycosis, Fusarium is the most frequently occurring new opportunistic pathogen that causes life-threatening infections.[24]
"In a recent study at a cancer center in the USA, the mortality rate of patients with a Fusarium infection was between 52-70%. [25] Other researchers reported mortality rates of 70%[26] or 76%[27]. Researchers from a German university hospital recently reported a case of a patient with a weakened immune system that died of a F. oxysporum infection, even after treatment with appropriate antifungal therapy.[28]"