Oliver Cornely

• MD
• Managing Director at University of Cologne

Background Fosmanogepix (FMGX) inhibits glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchored cell wall transfer protein 1, essential for anchoring mannoproteins to fungal cell wall, critical for host invasion. This Phase 2 study evaluated efficacy and safety of FMGX treatment in invasive mold diseases (IMDs) by Aspergillus spp. and rare molds in adults with limit...

Introduction COVID-19 remains a major threat to immunocompromised individuals. The determination of circulating SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in patients at high risk for severe course of SARS-CoV-2 infection is important for estimating the vaccine-induced humoral immune response. Therefore, we assessed the status quo after winter to analyze the need for b...

Brazil faces unique challenges in managing invasive fungal infections (IFIs) due to diverse ecosystems, a rural workforce, and prevalent health conditions. In Europe, IFIs are primarily associated with transplantation, intensive care, and chronic diseases. Inspired by initiatives in the Caribbean and Latin America in 2019, efforts to map global dia...

Background: Data standards are not only key to making data processing efficient but also fundamental to ensuring data interoperability. When clinical trial data are structured according to international standards, they become significantly easier to analyze, reducing the efforts required for data cleaning, preprocessing, and secondary use. A common...

Background Midostaurin is a multikinase inhibitor for the treatment of Fms-like tyrosine 3 (FLT3)-mutated acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Cardiac adverse events like QTc-prolongation, pericardial effusion, and congestive heart failure have been described. Inflammatory diseases associated with midostaurin are rarely reported. Case summary A 24-year-...

Candidaemia in children is associated with high mortality. The epidemiology of Candida bloodstream infection is changing with rising rates of fluconazole resistance worldwide and the emergence of novel multidrug‐resistant species such as Candida auris , which is associated with outbreaks. Guidelines on the management of candidaemia emphasise identi...

Background Invasive mould infections (IMI) cause substantial morbidity and mortality in populations at risk. Novel treatment approaches are urgently needed. Targeting immune checkpoints may reverse hyporesponsiveness of the innate and adaptive immune systems. Methods In this prospective, observational study, we investigated immune checkpoint expre...

Invasive fungal infections such as candidemia and invasive candidiasis are associated with prolonged hospital stays due to the consistent need for treatment and high mortality rates. Consequently, they pose major challenges for the healthcare system in general and hospitals in particular. In contrast to the actual necessary daily infusion of conven...

Febrile Neutropenia is an emergency in the treatment of cancer patients. It requires prompt and evidence-based clinical and antimicrobial management. The implementation of standard operating procedures (SOP) across hospitals and outpatient cancer departments can improve the outcome of FN patients by reducing FN-related morbidity and mortality and b...

Background With growing concerns about the effects of community-acquired respiratory viruses (CARVs) on hematological malignancy patients, proactive measures are necessary to minimize risks and improve treatment results. This study aimed to collect and analyze epidemiological, management, and outcome data from these patients with CARV infections to...

Background Isavuconazole, a second-generation triazole, has emerged as a potent antifungal agent with broad spectrum activity against moulds, including aspergillosis and mucormycosis. Its favourable safety profile contributes to enhanced patient compliance and improved treatment outcomes. Methods Data on patients receiving isavuconazole treatment...

Background Surgical site infections (SSI), mainly caused by Staphylococcus aureus, represent a significant economic burden in Europe, leading to an increase in length of hospitalization, mortality and treatment costs, especially with drug-resistant strains. such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. A new case-control study in high-volume...

Background The ongoing PROVE retrospective chart review study aims to assess real-world outcomes of cefiderocol treatment in patients with serious Gram-negative bacterial infections. Methods This is an interim analysis of hospitalized patients with suspected or confirmed Gram-negative bacterial infections in Europe and the USA treated with cefider...

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals with hematological malignancies faced elevated risks, leading to increased hospitalization and mortality rates, despite the availability of vaccines and treatments for the general population. Methods Data on COVID-19 cases in patients with hematological malignancies were collected from diverse g...

Background Ongoing progress in diagnosing and treating invasive fungal infections (IFI) faces challenges due to economic inequalities. Moreover, IFI prevalence and features vary between regions and countries. This study aims to assess the current diagnostic and treatment resources for IFIs in the Balkan region. Methods Data from Albania, Bosnia an...

Background Dengue is the fastest spreading mosquito-borne viral infection, which affects people living in the tropical and subtropical countries and cause severe clinical symptoms and possibly death. We aimed to determine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with dengue fever and to find mortality predictors. Methods We con...

Background Brazil's tropical climate and a higher prevalence of immunocompromised cases due to conditions like HIV/AIDS contribute to an increased incidence of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) like histoplasmosis and paracoccidioidomycosis. In Europe, vulnerable populations undergoing immunosuppressive therapies or organ transplants face elevated...

Background Despite advances in antifungals, Candida infections still have a high mortality rate of up to 40%. The ECMM Candida III study in Europe investigated the changing epidemiology and outcomes, highlighting the need to understand and manage these infections. Methods In this observational cohort study, participating hospitals enrolled the fir...

Community‐acquired respiratory viral infections (CARV) significantly impact patients with hematological malignancies (HM), leading to high morbidity and mortality. However, large‐scale, real‐world data on CARV in these patients is limited. This study analyzed data from the EPICOVIDEHA‐EPIFLUEHA registry, focusing on patients with HM diagnosed with...

Courses of SARS-CoV-2 infections are highly variable, ranging from asymptomatic to lethal COVID-19. Though research has shown that host genetic factors contribute to this variability, cohort-based joint analyses of variants from the entire allelic spectrum in individuals with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections are still lacking. Here, we present the r...

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the burden of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in patients with haematological diseases. It seeks to analyse the relevance of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of RSV infections. Methods A multi-centre, retrospective study was conducted across University Hospitals in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn, and...

Plain Language Summary What is this summary about? Candidaemia and invasive candidiasis are infections that can occur when a fungus called Candida gets into the blood and other parts of the body. These infections are common in hospitals, usually in people who have just had surgery or people with weakened immune systems. This is a summary of a paper...

Objectives The objectives were to determine the structure of training programmes and assessment of physicians training to become infectious disease (ID) specialists in Europe in early 2024, and to document the provision of specialists, trainees and training centres in each country. Methods Delegates to the ID Section and Board of the European Unio...

Background Invasive candidiasis/candidemia (IC/C) is associated with a substantial health economic burden driven primarily by prolonged hospital stay. The once-weekly IV echinocandin, rezafungin acetate, has demonstrated non-inferiority to caspofungin in the treatment of IC/C. This paper reports a post hoc pooled exploratory analysis of length of s...

Medically important pathogenic fungi invade vertebrate tissue and are considered primary when part of their nature life cycle is associated with an animal host and are usually able to infect immunocompetent hosts. Opportunistic fungal pathogens complete their life cycle in environmental habitats or occur as commensals within or on the vertebrate bo...

Introduction Mucormycosis is a rare invasive fungal infection (IFI), which is characterized by prolonged antifungal therapy, high morbidity and mortality rates, as well as increased treatment costs. Areas covered Appropriate diagnosis of mucormycosis is a fundamental component of successful treatment; however, evidence about health economic expe...

Background Invasive fungal infections (IFI) represent a severe cause of morbidity and mortality in patients (pts) with neutropenia such as those with acute leukemia (AL) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) receiving intensive chemotherapy (CTx) with a high IFI-related mortality of up to 50%. Antifungal prophylaxis (AFP) reduces occurrence of IFI and...

Background Bacterial infections frequently occur in haematological patients, especially during prolonged neutropenia after intensive chemotherapy, often leading to bloodstream infections and pneumonia. Objective Routine antimicrobial prophylaxis (AMP) for high-risk haematology patients is still debated while prevalence of multi-drug resistant (MDR...

Background: Rezafungin is an echinocandin approved in the US and EU to treat candidaemia and/or invasive candidiasis. This post-hoc, pooled analysis of the Phase 2 STRIVE and Phase 3 ReSTORE trials assessed rezafungin versus caspofungin in patients with candidaemia and/or invasive candidiasis (IC) in the intensive care unit (ICU) at randomisation....

Objectives Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is a complex lung disease associated with significant morbidity. The ABPA Working Group (AWG) of the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM) revised their management guidelines in 2024, but there is currently no standardised tool to assess adherence to these recommendatio...

Real-world data from multinational observational studies are required to better understand the role and performance of isavuconazole in real-world practice in Europe. A retrospective medical record review was conducted at 16 sites in Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom). Eligible records were from patients aged ≥ 18 years...

Introduction: The study objective was to identify commonalities and differences among the clinical trial metadata, protocols, and the data collection systems in the VACCELERATE project. Methods: To examine the degree of interoperability and to suggest methodological improvements, interoperable points were identified based on the main core outcome a...

Purpose The international PROVE retrospective chart-review study aims to assess the real-world effectiveness and safety of cefiderocol for treatment of patients with carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative infections. Patients and Methods US centers selected hospitalized patients receiving their first cefiderocol treatment for ≥72 hours for a Gram-nega...

Background Invasive fungal infections (IFI) are a major public health concern in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to limited diagnostic and treatment resources, leading to high morbidity and mortality. Despite their significant global burden, IFI are under-recognized and under-diagnosed in LMICs. This study evaluates the diagnostic and...

Introduction A clear immune correlate of protection from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has not been defined. We explored antibody, B-cell, and T-cell responses to the third-dose vaccine and relationship to incident SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods Adults in a prospective cohort provided blood samples at day 0,...

BACKGROUND Data standards are not only key to making data processing efficient but also fundamental to ensuring data interoperability. When clinical trial data are structured according to international standards, they become significantly easier to analyze, reducing the efforts required for data cleaning, preprocessing, and secondary use. A common...

Invasive candidiasis and candidemia remain a significant public health concern. The European Confederation of Medical Mycology (ECMM) conducted three pan-European multicentre studies from 1997 to 2022 to investigate various aspects of invasive Candida infections. These studies revealed shifting trends in Candida species distribution, with an increa...

Zusammenfassung Invasive Pilzerkrankungen sind schwer zu behandeln und stellen eine erhebliche Bedrohung für immungeschwächte Menschen dar. Die derzeitigen antimykotischen Wirkstoffe stoßen an ihre Grenzen, einschließlich zunehmender Resistenzen gegen Antimykotika und unerwünschter Wirkungen. Diese Übersicht soll einen umfassenden Überblick über ne...

Background WHO postulates the application of adaptive design features in the global clinical trial ecosystem. However, the adaptive platform trial (APT) methodology has not been widely adopted in clinical research on vaccines. Methods The VACCELERATE Consortium organized a two-day workshop to discuss the applicability of APT methodology in vaccine...

Introduction Despite antifungal advancements, candidaemia still has a high mortality rate of up to 40%. The ECMM Candida III study in Europe investigated the changing epidemiology and outcomes of candidaemia for better understanding and management of these infections. Methods In this observational cohort study, participating hospitals enrolled the...

Background Rezafungin, a novel, once-weekly echinocandin for the treatment of candidemia and/or invasive candidiasis (IC) was noninferior to caspofungin for day 30 all-cause mortality (ACM) and day 14 global cure in the phase 3 ReSTORE trial (NCT03667690). We conducted preplanned subgroup analyses for patients with a positive culture close to rando...

Introduction In Germany, the growing incidence of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) is a significant health concern, particularly impacting individuals with compromised immune systems due to factors like increasing transplant recipients, an ageing population, and heightened use of immunosuppressive medications. Diagnosing IFI remains challenging, a...

Purpose Considering the re-emergence of poliomyelitis (PM) in non-endemic regions, it becomes apparent that vaccine preventable diseases can rapidly develop epi- or even pandemic potential. Evaluation of the current vaccination status is required to inform patients, health care providers and policy makers about vaccination gaps. Methods Between Oc...

Background: Clostridioides difficile is the most common cause of healthcare-associated diarrhea. Research suggests that treating C. difficile infections (CDI) with fidaxomicin (FDX) is more effective than vancomycin (VAN), with potential cost savings. The objective was to calculate the budget impact of FDX treatment compared to VAN from a German p...

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Invasive fungal diseases (IFD) are difficult to treat and pose a significant threat to immunocompromised individuals. Current antifungal agents face limitations, including antifungal resistance and adverse effects. This review aims to give a comprehensive overview of emerging treatment strategies. Novel drugs in development are Ibrexafungerp, an o...

The first patients positive for SARS-CoV-2 were registered in December 2019. In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic, the beginning of a worldwide health crisis that revealed numerous medical challenges for healthcare systems and pandemic emergency strategies. Among these challenges, muco...

Background: The VACCELERATE Pan-European Scientific network aims to strengthen the foundation of vaccine trial research across Europe by following the principles of equity, inclusion, and diversity. The VACCELERATE Volunteer Registry network provides access to vaccine trial sites across the European region and supports a sustainable volunteer platf...

Objectives To assess incidence rates of surgical site infections (SSI) by MRSA and to determine related factors and clinical outcome compared to MSSA, including country-specific, institutional and patient determinants. Patients and methods We performed a subgroup analysis of the Europe-wide SALT (NCT03353532) study population with MRSA SSI from 14...

Today, over 300 million individuals worldwide are afflicted by severe fungal infections, many of whom will perish. Fungi, as a result of their plastic genomes have the ability to adapt to new environments and extreme conditions as a consequence of globalization, including urbanization, agricultural intensification, and, notably, climate change. Soi...

Aspergillus -associated diseases are rare and pose challenges for practitioners. Diagnosis is complex and requires rational, targeted, and multidisciplinary collaboration, as well as a high degree of expertise and an individualized approach. For the infectious diseases physician, the focus is on the question of infection or colonization. In severel...

The aim of this document was to develop standardized research definitions of invasive fungal diseases (IFD) in non-neutropenic, adult patients without classical host factors for IFD, admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). After a systematic assessment of the diagnostic performance for IFD in the target population of already existing definitions a...

Background The COVID-19 pandemic heightened risks for individuals with hematological malignancies due to compromised immune systems, leading to more severe outcomes and increased mortality. While interventions like vaccines, targeted antivirals, and monoclonal antibodies have been effective for the general population, their benefits for these patie...

The European Confederation of Medical Mycology (ECMM), formed due to the surge in invasive fungal infections (IFI), initiated the Excellence Centers program in 2016 to guide stakeholders to leading medical mycology sites. This report focuses on the Cologne ECMM Excellence Center, recognized with Diamond status for active global involvement in 2017....

Please cite this article as: Agarwal R, Singh Sehgal I, Muthu V, et al. Revised clinical practice guidelines for diagnosing, classifying, and treating allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis/mycoses: a Delphi statement from the ISHAM-ABPA working group. Eur Respir J 2024; in press (https://doi.

Background The ISHAM working group proposed recommendations for managing allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) nearly a decade ago. There is a need to update these recommendations due to advances in diagnostics and therapeutics. Methods An international expert group was convened to develop guidelines for managing ABPA (caused by Aspergill...

Purpose Considering the re-emergence of poliomyelitis (PM) in non-endemic regions, it becomes apparent that vaccine preventable diseases can rapidly develop epi- or even pandemic potential. Evaluation of the current vaccination status is required to inform patients, health care providers and policy makers about vaccination gaps. Methods Between Oc...

Cryptococcosis is a major worldwide disseminated invasive fungal infection. Cryptococcosis, particularly in its most lethal manifestation of cryptococcal meningitis, accounts for substantial mortality and morbidity. The breadth of the clinical cryptococcosis syndromes, the different patient types at-risk and affected, and the vastly disparate resou...

Zusammenfassung Die von der Gesellschaft für Hygiene, Umweltmedizin und Präventivmedizin (GHUP) federführend aktualisierte Leitlinie „Medizinisch klinische Diagnostik bei Schimmelpilzexposition in Innenräumen – Update 2023“ ist Gegenstand des vorliegenden Beitrags. Schimmelwachstum im Innenraum ist als ein potenzielles Gesundheitsrisiko zu betracht...

Objective Preventing severe COVID‐19 remains a priority globally, particularly in the immunocompromised population. As shown in healthy individuals, immunity against SARS‐CoV‐2 can be yielded by previous infection, vaccination, or both (hybrid immunity). The objective of this observation study was to investigate hybrid immunity in patients with chr...

We report on a 64-year-old man with necrotizing pancreatitis related, invasive candidiasis, and candidemia. Despite a multidisciplinary management including antifungal therapy, endoscopic interventions and surgery, the patients’ infection progressed and lead to colon perforation, retroperitoneal abscess formation, and polymicrobial bloodstream infe...

Objectives Midostaurin is an oral multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Therapeutic drug monitoring of midostaurin may support its safe use when suspecting toxicity or combined with strong CYP3A4 inhibitors. Methods A stable isotope dilution liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method...

The success of the clinical management of invasive fungal diseases (IFD) is highly dependent on suitable tools for timely and accurate diagnosis for effective treatment. An in-depth analysis of the ability of European institutions to promptly and accurately diagnose IFD was previously conducted to identify limitations and aspects to improve. Here,...

Background Factors including frailty and multimorbidity can affect candidaemia and/or invasive candidiasis (C/IC) treatment in older people.1 The current analysis explored data from C/IC patients aged ≥65 years who were treated with rezafungin or caspofungin in the STRIVE (Phase 2: NCT02734862) and ReSTORE (Phase 3: NCT03667690) clinical trials.2,3...