Fungi on the Fly: Travel-Associated Fungal Infections Webinar

Fungal infections are among the most easily missed diagnoses in returning travelers. They mimic tuberculosis, malignancy and bacterial pneumonia; they surface weeks or months after exposure, long after the itinerary has faded from the chart; and the exposures that cause them — a cave tour, a surgical suite abroad, a thorn scratch on a trek — rarely make it into the travel history unless you ask for them. Fungal diseases are increasing worldwide, treatment options remain narrow, and there are no vaccines. CDC’s message for the week is a clinical one: think fungus to save lives.

Join speakers Tom Chiller, Ellie Macbain and Eva Parker for this ISTM and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) webinar as part of Fungal Disease Awareness Week (FDAW).

Course Objectives
By the end of this webinar, you will be able to:

✅ Describe fungal infection risk associated with medical tourism, including the epidemiology and clinical course of recent fungal meningitis outbreaks linked to procedures performed abroad, and counsel patients considering care overseas. 

✅ Identify the travel activities and destinations that carry histoplasmosis risk, and recognize the outbreak patterns that follow adventure and group travel.

✅ Recognize travel-associated dermatophyte infections, including antifungal-resistant strains, and outline current approaches to diagnosis and management.

✅ Distinguish the implantation mycoses acquired through traumatic inoculation abroad and describe an appropriate diagnostic approach.

✅ Apply a targeted exposure history to raise or lower suspicion for fungal infection in the ill returning traveler.