Researchers in 'Emerging Infectious Diseases' debunk the scenario of a global fungal pandemic as depicted in HBO's 'The Last of Us,' citing slow fungal evolution and current pathologies as barriers to such an event.
By Hugo Francisco de SouzaFeb 15 2024Reviewed by Susha Cheriyedath, M.Sc. In a recent early-release article published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, researchers review our current knowledge of fungal pathology and use it to discuss the plausibility of an impending catastrophic global fungal pandemic as depicted in the popular Home Box Office television series, 'The Last of Us.
The series has been met with unprecedented public interest, with its season one premiere being the second-biggest HBO series release since 2010 . Within two months of release, the show's average viewership rose to 40 million per episode, one of the highest for any series within the genre. Unfortunately, the series' detailed storytelling of the fungal pandemic has sparked public concern regarding the plausibility of a similar pandemic occurring in real life.
While the growing global number of immunosuppressed individuals results in a worrisome trend of increasing worldwide fungal susceptibility, the current potential of fungal infections pales to those of bacteria and viruses.
Can fungi make us zombies? In short – no. While 'zombie fungi' do exist – The Last of Us portrays the species-jumping evolution of the zombie-ant fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis or Cordyceps, a natural fungus that infects insects in tropical forest ecosystems, hijacking their bodies to facilitate its reproduction and spread, fungal hijacking of human bodies remains unlikely. This is primarily due to none of the Cordyceps species infecting lower vertebrates, let alone humans.
So, we're safe, right? Not entirely. While no publicly available military records on the weaponization of fungal pathogens exist, our clinical support in the event of a pandemic is alarmingly limited. Given their eukaryotic nature, anti-fungal clinical interventions are severely hampered, with only four known anti-fungal agents extant and no commercially available fungal vaccines currently available.
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