How fungal infections cause blood poisoning

Candida albicans. DataBase Center for Life Science (DBCLS), Wikimedia Commons - Blood poisoning caused by a fungal infection is a severe, life-threatening condition. Researchers at the University of Bern have now discovered a mechanism that helps a yeast fungus to spread more easily within the body. The immune system, of all things, plays a major role in this process. These findings could open up new therapeutic avenues for blood poisoning caused by yeast, but also for other invasive fungal infections. Normally, the yeast Candida albicans is a harmless co-inhabitant of our mucous membranes. About half of the population is colonized by it without noticing.