The World Health Organization estimates that at least five million people worldwide are infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Of these about 100,000 are in Asia and Oceania, 500,000 in Europe, 2 million in the Americas and 2.5 million in Africa (Mann, 1989). The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is characterized by a derangement in cell-mediated immunity leading to opportunistic infections with for example Mycobacterium spp., Candida spp., Cryptococcus neoformans, Pneumocystis carinii, Toxoplasma gondii and Cryptosporidium. The third symposium on "Topics in Mycology" brought...

Species of aspergilli are common in man's environment and are responsible for a wide spectrum of human and animal disease, ranging in animals from mycotic abortion to aflatoxicosis and in humans from localized colonization of the ear or skin to life-threatening systemic infection of neutropenic patients. In recent times, invasive aspergillosis has become increasingly important as a cause of morbidity and death, initially in patients receiving immunosuppression prior to organ transplantation, and latterly in haematologic patients rendered neutropenic by underlying disease or chemotherapy. In...