Parasitic diseases and fungal infections – their increasing importance in medicine

Basing on 43 lectures and reports from the scope of current parasitological and mycological issues presented during the 50th Jubilee Clinical Day of Medical Parasitology (Lodz, 19–20 May 2011), the increasing importance of parasitic diseases and mycoses in medicine was presented. Difficulties in diagnosis and treatment of both imported parasitoses (malaria, intestinal amoebiosis, mansonelliasis) and native parasitoses (toxoplasmosis, toxocariasis, CNS cysticercosis), as well as parasitic invasions coexisting with HIV infection (microsporidiosis) have been emphasized. The possibility of human parasites transmission by vertical route and transfusion has been discussed. The important issue of diagnostic problems in intestinal parasitoses has been addressed, noting the increasing use of immunoenzymatic methods which frequently give false positive results. It was highlighted that coproscopic study is still the reference method for detecting parasitic intestinal infections. The mechanism of the immune reaction induced by intestinal nematodes resulting in, among others, inhibition of the host innate and acquired response was presented. Mycological topics included characteristics of various clinical forms of mycoses (central nervous system, oral cavity and pharynx, paranasal sinuses, nails and skin), still existing problem of antimicrobial susceptibility of fungal strains, diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties of zoonotic mycoses and the importance of environmental factors in pathogenesis of mycosis.