Vaccine that fights off range of fatal fungi is 100% effective at preventing severe infection - Daily Mail

In a study on animals, the shot - made by researchers from the University of Georgia (UGA) - worked against the three most common families of fungi that cause disease in people.

While that is far from reality, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows fungal infections already caused 7,000 deaths in the US - and 1.5million worldwide, in 2021.

The vaccine, called NXT-2, works by providing the body with antibodies that can fight off infections caused by three species of fungus: Aspergillus, Candida and Pneumocystis.

The shot was 100 percent effective at preventing serious infection in monkeys and mice that were immune suppressed and exposed to a fatal amount of fungi.

'There's a significant unmet clinical need for this kind of prevention and also treatment, particularly among immunocompromised individuals,' Dr Karen Norris, a veterinary medicine professor at UGA and the chief scientist behind the vaccine.

Dr Matthew Fisher, a professor of medicine at Imperial College Longon in the UK who researches fungi, told CNN: 'We're always surrounded by fungal spores.