We’ve all heard of bacteria and viruses. But fungi? Most of us don’t think twice about them. Maybe a skin infection here, a toenail issue there. But inside hospital wards, especially in India, certain fungal infections are turning deadly — and tougher to treat.
After COVID, India saw a surge in dangerous fungal diseases like black fungus (mucormycosis), which claimed thousands of lives. Add to that hospital outbreaks of Candida auris, a stubborn fungus that doesn’t respond to many medicines, and it’s clear we have a quiet, growing problem.
Here’s where it gets scarier: the medicines we’ve been using to treat these infections for years are stopping working. The fungi have figured out how to resist them. And because there are very few antifungal drugs in the world — just three main types — we’re running out of options fast.
But now, there’s a ray of hope. Scientists in China have found a new natural medicine called mandimycin. What makes it special isn’t just that it kills these deadly fungi — it does it in a new way. While old medicines attack the same weak spots that fungi have learned to defend, mandimycin strips away their outer cover, leaving them defenceless. Think of it like removing a soldier’s armour before battle.
In early lab tests, it worked against fungi that had become resistant to everything else. Even in mice infected with deadly fungi, it helped them survive when no other treatment did.
Is it available yet? No. It still needs to go through safety tests and human trials. But in a country like India — where hospital infections, diabetes, and post-COVID complications have made fungal diseases a serious threat — this new drug could one day save lives where old medicines fail.
Because the truth is, while bacteria and viruses grab headlines, fungi are quietly becoming one of our biggest hidden killers. And for once, it seems we might have a fresh weapon on the way.