Professor Warris describes how Candida affects the immunocompromised body: “It releases tiny spores into the air, which we breathe in.
“If the lung is already damaged, someone is already ill, or the immune system is too weak, these spores can grow out in a kind of filament.”
As a result of this filament, it is possible for patients to go on to develop inflammation and pneumonia.
Fungal infections then pose a threat to the thousands of cancer patients in the UK, the growing awareness of this comes at a time when the NHS is faced with more cancer patients than ever before.