Aspergilli — significance as pathogens

Summary Aspergillus species are widespread in the environment and have the capacity to cause life-threatening invasive disease, notably in the immunocompromised patient. In this review, an initial consideration of environmental sources of aspergilli will be followed by examination of the significance of Aspergillus isolated from human cultures. A review of the various disease patterns seen in the immunocompetent and immunocompromised leads on to discussion of what is known about pathogenesis and determinants of virulence. Finally, to give some idea of the scale of the problem, we consider the occurrence of three types of disease due to aspergilli, namely, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, pulmonary aspergilloma, and invasive aspergillosis.