California scientists sound alarm on role of pesticides in raising resistance to antifungal drugs

The Hill

4 hours ago

The proliferation of new fungicides in the U.S. agricultural sector may be raising resistance to critical antifungal medications in humans and animals, infectious disease experts are warning.
Although antifungal pesticides have become vital to combatting the spread of crop disease, the ongoing development of new such fungicides may be leaving people more vulnerable to severe infections, according to new commentary published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
'Antimicrobial resistant pathogens are a constant reminder for us to use agents judiciously,' lead author George Thompson, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Davis, said in a statement.
'We have learned that the widespread use of antibiotics for livestock resulted in the rapid development of resistance to antibacterials,' Thompson continued. 'We have similar concerns regarding the use of antifungals in the environment.'
In the past few decades, fungi that cause severe infections in humans — such as the difficult-to-treat Candida auris — have undergone a rapid increase, the scientists noted.
Yet because there are relatively few antifungals available to eradicate such microbes from the body, Thompson stressed that 'preventing resistance is of paramount importance.'
In the U.S. today, the researchers found that there are about 75,000 hospitalizations and 9 million outpatient visits linked to fungal diseases every year, with direct annual costs amount to $6.7 billion to $7.5 billion.
At the same time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that fungi cause between 10 percent to 20 percent of crop loss, at a cost of $100 billion to $200 billion annually, according to the report.
However, scientists have now become increasingly aware that antifungal pesticides and antifungal drugs share some of the same mechanisms. The authors therefore warned that the promulgation of these chemicals 'may select for resistant fungi in the environment, which can then endanger human health.'
The development of antifungal medications, meanwhile, is a difficult task due to the metabolic similarities shared by human and fungal cells, as well as the surge in antifungal resistance, the authors explained.
Tackling this problem, they contended, requires what's known as a 'One Health' approach — a state that recognizes how human, animal and environmental health are all related. As scientists research future solutions, having representatives from each of these sectors in the room will be increasingly critical, the commentary argued.
Shared decision-making among national and global regulators, the researchers added, would both be cost-effective and would help avoid the 'riskier prospects of the rapid spread of resistant pathogens.'