Biology of medically important fungi and parasites
How fungal cell membranes and walls set antifungal targets and biomarkers, and how protozoan replication, helminth life cycles and Strongyloides autoinfection explain parasitaemia, relapse, eosinophilia and hyperinfection.
Tier 2Medical sciences concept
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- Fungi and parasites are eukaryotes, so selective drug targets are fewer than for bacteria and toxicity is higher.
- Fungal targets: ergosterol in the membrane (polyenes bind it, azoles block its synthesis) and beta-D-glucan in the wall (echinocandins block its synthesis).
- Fungi divide into yeasts (Candida, Cryptococcus), moulds (Aspergillus, Mucorales) and dimorphic fungi (Talaromyces, Histoplasma). Pneumocystis is an atypical fungus.
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Sources
- Therapeutic Guidelines: Antibiotic (2025 update)AU/NZTherapeutic Guidelines Limited, 2025
- Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious DiseasesElsevier, 9th edition, 2020
- DPDx: Laboratory Identification of Parasites of Public Health ConcernUS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Accessed November 2026
- WHO Guidelines for malariaWorld Health Organization, Living guideline, accessed November 2026
- Australian Refugee Health Practice Guide: StrongyloidesAU/NZVictorian Refugee Health Network and Foundation House, Accessed November 2026
- Tafenoquine co-administered with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for the radical cure of Plasmodium vivax malaria (INSPECTOR) (Sutanto et al.)Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2023
- AusPAR: Kozenis (tafenoquine)AU/NZTherapeutic Goods Administration, December 2022
- Taylor WRJ et al. Short-course primaquine for the radical cure of Plasmodium vivax malaria (IMPROV). Lancet 2019;394:929-38The Lancet, 2019
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
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