{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T05:01:30Z","timestamp":1780290090902,"version":"3.54.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780272000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Early diagnosis of invasive fungal diseases (IFD) remains a major clinical challenge due to pathogen diversity and nonspecific symptoms. This study used metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) technology to comprehensively characterize fungal profiles across various clinical specimens and the demographic characteristics (sex and age) of the patient population. The results provide laboratory evidence to support the diagnosis and treatment of fungal infections.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 11,161 mNGS reports from clinical specimens collected at the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University between March 2022 to August 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. Fungal spectra and patient demographics were comprehensively profiled and compared across different specimen types.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The highest fungal detection rate was observed in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (36.85%, 1,985\/5,387), followed by urine (22.76%, 264\/1,160), blood (13.38%, 380\/2,840), pleural and peritoneal fluid (12.91%, 174\/1,348), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (13.82%, 17\/123), and wound exudates (12.87%, 39\/303).\n                      <jats:italic>Candida<\/jats:italic>\n                      species were the most frequently detected fungi across all specimen types except CSF, wherein\n                      <jats:italic>Aspergillus<\/jats:italic>\n                      predominated. Overall fungal detection rates were significantly higher in male patients than in female patients (26.76% vs. 23.84%,\n                      <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0&amp;lt;\u00a00.01) and in individuals aged &amp;gt; 60 years compared with those aged \u2264 60 years (33.04% vs. 20.02%,\n                      <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0&amp;lt;\u00a00.001), although this trend varied by specimen type. Multivariate logistic regression analysis confirmed that male sex (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=0.893,95% confidence interval: 0.824-0.967, P\u00a0=\u00a00.006) and advanced age (\u226580 years: aOR=14.77,95% confidence interval: 12.08-18.06, compared with minors) were independent risk factors for fungal detection. Among fungal-positive specimens, 68.28% (1,952\/2,859) were co-detected with bacteria, and 15.63% (447\/2,859) showed polyfungal detection (\u2265 2 fungal species).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      In conclusion, our findings highlight the predominance of\n                      <jats:italic>Candida<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>Aspergillus<\/jats:italic>\n                      , identify elderly male patients as a high-risk population, and underscore the high frequency of bacterial-fungal co-detection. Overall, Clinicians should combine mNGS results with imaging, conventional fungal tests (G\/GM assays, culture), and clinical presentation for a more accurate diagnosis of IFD.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1779223","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T04:18:10Z","timestamp":1780287490000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A large-scale retrospective analysis reveals the fungal pathogen spectrum across diverse clinical specimens using metagenomic next-generation sequencing"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Shuo","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University","place":["Wuhan, Hubei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liangyu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhili","family":"Niu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Laboratory, Institute of Translational Medicine, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University","place":["Wuhan, Hubei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mengling","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Fifth Hospital in Wuhan","place":["Wuhan, Hubei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jieyu","family":"Mao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University","place":["Wuhan, Hubei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinwen","family":"Min","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University","place":["Wuhan, Hubei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sheng","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University","place":["Wuhan, Hubei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ruiyun","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University","place":["Wuhan, Hubei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haiyue","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University","place":["Wuhan, Hubei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Yin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University","place":["Wuhan, Hubei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaojun","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University","place":["Wuhan, Hubei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1664","DOI":"10.3201\/eid1709.101987","article-title":"Geographic distribution of endemic fungal infections among older persons, United States","volume":"17","author":"Baddley","year":"2011","journal-title":"Emerg. 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