Host-fungal interactions: key players of antifungal immunity.

The increase in incidence of fungal infections is causing a considerable health burden worldwide. Despite recent advances in mucosal and systemic fungal diseases, a large gap exists in our knowledge of alterations to host homeostasis following fungal exposure and molecular mechanisms underlying fungal immune recognition, evasion and regulation. The EuroSciCon meeting on host-fungal interactions was expertly organized by Julian Naglik (King's College London, UK) and Neil Gow (University of Aberdeen, UK) and is aimed to be a premier forum in the UK for presentation of cutting-edge advances in relation to fungal pathogenicity and innate and adaptive immune responses. This article highlights principle topics that need to be better understood to provide improved means of diagnosis and optimization of therapies that would be instrumental in controlling fungal infections.