EPIDEMIOLOGY OF INVASIVE FUNGAL-INFECTIONS IN BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANTATION

Infections and graft-versus-host disease are the major causes of morbi dity and mortality in bone marrow transplantation (BMT), Bacterial inf ections can nowadays be treated effectively in most instances, The pro phylactic and therapeutic armamentarium for viral infections is improv ing, Fungal infections on the contrary remain a major obstacle for suc cessful outcome in the transplant situation, Invasive fungal infection s are mainly caused by Candida and Aspergillus spp, and more seldom by Mucor, Trichosporon and Fusarium. Invasive fungal infections are noto riously difficult to diagnose early and effective non-toxic treatments are still out of reach, Prophylaxis for Candida albicans has become m ore effective with new triazoles but for species other than albicans a nd for Aspergillus spp, prophylaxis still remains a major problem, Bet ter treatment modalities, more effective prophylaxis and better knowle dge of risk factors are urgently needed, The recently created Invasive Fungal Infections Cooperative Group of the EORTC chaired by Professor F. Meunier runs different surveys to investigate the incidence and na ture of invasive fungal infections in cancer patients and in BMT, The group runs different clinical trials on the prophylaxis and treatment of invasive fungal infections.