Introduction:

Fungal infections are a current human health problem. Infections caused by pathogenic fungal species constantly increase in number, and are ranked between the fourth and tenth leading causes of death, particularly in intensive care units. Early accurate diagnosis has a direct impact on the morbidity and mortality of fungal infections.

Objective:

Describe the main non-conventional diagnostic techniques for the most common fungal diseases, especially those related to serological and molecular diagnosis.

Methods:

A review was conducted of the scientific literature about the topic published between the years 2000 and 2019. A total 63 publications were reviewed. The search engines used were Google and Google Scholar. The databases Medline, PubMed, Science Direct, BUCea and SciELO were reviewed.

Data analysis and synthesis:

Serological techniques are used for the diagnosis of invasive or systemic mycoses because they are easy, fast and reliable. The detection of antibodies has a limited usefulness in invasive mycosis diagnosis, for the response may be delayed, reduced or inexistent in immunocompromised patients. Detection of non-antigenic components released by fungi during infection and sequencing of fungal nucleic acids are other mycosis diagnosis options.

Conclusions:

Biotechnological development contributes new tools increasing mycosis identification opportunities. Methods are currently available which are based on detection of immunological markers and specific molecular elements. The efficacy of non-conventional diagnostic tools depends on their appropriate combination.

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