Clinical and Interpretive

This assay is used in the detection of fungi in clinical specimens.

Many fungi in the environment cause disease in severely compromised human hosts. Accordingly, the range of potential pathogenic fungi has increased as the number of immunosuppressed individuals (persons with AIDS, patients receiving chemotherapy or transplant rejection therapy, etc.) has increased.

Few fungal diseases can be diagnosed clinically; most are diagnosed by isolating and identifying the infecting fungus in the clinical laboratory.