There are about 250,000 known species in our world. 180 of those species are fungi capable of causing disease in people.
The majority are moulds and some are pathogenic yeasts. Others are opportunistic... which is to say they are an organism
that normally lives in us or among us but doesn't cause any harm unless we are weakened in some way.
These fungi and moulds are very diverse and cause infections that vary greatly. Fungi are immoble. They have a nucleus and
a rigid cell wall. Moulds have many pranches known as mycelium. Yeasts are small round cells that reproduce by budding.
Infections caused by fungi in recent years has increased greatly. The infections caused by these opportunistic organisms are
related to the continually growing population of people, whose immune systems are weakend from cancer, AIDS and other
diseases. Chemotherapy and other drugs that weaken our immune system are another source of opportunism.
About the Author
Sherri Jones is co-owner of an internet pharmacy