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Do fungi kill three times as many people as malaria?

We investigate a claim that fungal infections are a much bigger killer than malaria, despite there being less focus on the risks posed.

The smash hit TV show and video game ‘The Last of Us’ has spawned lots of curiosity about how worried we should be about the relatively unknown world of fungi. A figure in a recent ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ online article stated that fungal infections kill around 1.7 million people a year, about three times as many as malaria. In this episode we look at the both the global fight against malaria and David Denning, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Global Health at the University of Manchester explains the risks posed by fungal infections globally.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald,
Producers: Octavia Woodward and Jon Bithrey
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown

(Cryptococcus neoformans fungus Credit: Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library/Getty images)

Available now

9 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Sat 11 Mar 2023 05:50GMT
  • Sat 11 Mar 2023 22:50GMT
  • Sun 12 Mar 2023 00:50GMT
  • Sun 12 Mar 2023 14:50GMT
  • Sun 12 Mar 2023 22:50GMT
  • Mon 13 Mar 2023 00:50GMT
  • Mon 13 Mar 2023 10:50GMT

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