Some fungal diseases are really common. Examples include ‘Athlete’s foot’, dandruff, yeast infections in women (vulvovaginal candidiasis). Others are exceptionally rare such as Basidiobolus infections of the gut in children in the Middle East. Some are relatively common in people with specific underlying conditions, such as invasive aspergillosis in leukaemia or cryptococcal meningitis or Pneumocystis pneumonia in AIDS.
As most fungal diseases are challenging to diagnose and there are very few surveillance programs, precise numbers are elusive. Thousands of studies documenting fungal disease frequency are published. These have been used to make estimates by fungal diseases or by country. You can access these here: [link to professional page].
Common fungal disease problems:
Skin, hair and nails fungal infections: ~ 1 billion people
Vulvovaginal candidiasis: ~70% of women, especially during pregnancy and ~135 million with repeated episodes
Fungal asthma: 10-25 million adults and ~2 million children
Fungal keratitis (front of eye infection): 1.0-1.5 million per year
Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (often after tuberculosis (TB)): ~3 million affected