China to establish national monitoring network for fungal diseases

BEIJING - China will establish a national monitoring network for fungal diseases, the National Health Commission announced Thursday.

The network, consisting of qualified medical institutions nationwide, will carry out regular checks on the pathogen spectrum and drug resistance of fungal infections, as well as clinical application of special or restricted antifungal drugs, the commission said.

Moreover, it will be tasked with conducting real-time monitoring on high-risk pathogenic fungi and outbreaks of fungal diseases, issuing early warning and taking measures to prevent and control major infections, the commission added.

Once high-risk pathogens, multidrug-resistant or pandrug-resistant "superfungi" are detected in routine tests, relevant information shall be reported to the network in real time, the commission said.

The World Health Organization has listed antimicrobial resistance -- the ability of bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi to resist medicines -- as one of 10 threats to global health in 2019.

In 2009, China established the CHIF-NET, a pathogenic fungus surveillance network covering more than 230 medical institutions nationwide, with data reports published annually.