Contents Notes |
"This book is intended to be a practical manual for the laboratory identification of filamentous fungi of medical importance. Currently, in the world of modern medicine, the increasing number of debilitated patients, particularly of immunocompromised patients, has brought about a corresponding increase in the number of serious cases of mycotic disease. These infections are caused by a great variety of opportunistic fungi, of which only some are more-or-less well known. The challenge that their identification represents for the laboratory technologist as well as for the scientist never ceases to grow. In order to alleviate this problem,, we present descriptions of 98 genera or species of fungi isolated in the biomedical laboratory. Given that the identification of these organisms rests almost exclusively on morphological examination, we have assigned particular importance to illustrations. Also, to minimize the difficulties occasioned by specialized vocabulary, a glossary is included. We sincerely hope that this guide will facilitate the task of all those who work within this area of medical mycology, while stimulating further interest in those amazing organisms, the filamentous fungi."-- |