Determining Elements of Anti-Fungal Immunity in BURN Patients

Scientific justification Invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) pose a substantial threat, especially in immunocompromised patients, necessitating urgent research focus and therapeutic advancements. The IFI-BURN study, involving a cohort of patients with severe burn injury (n=276), revealed a significant IFD incidence of 31.6% and underscored their critical impact on morbidity and mortality. While fungi are present everywhere, for moulds within the environment and for yeasts within our microbiota, why certain patients develop IFDs and others do not, remains poorly understood. The answer most likely resides in the impact of the burn injury on the immune response, loss of skin barrier and particular predisposing immune phenotype of patients. The immune system is composed of both cellular and humoral components, but the latter is far less studied in antifungal immunity although they exert multiple antimicrobial mechanisms.