Deadly New Fungal Infection Causes Alarm

Every year, an estimated 23,000 Americans die from antibiotic-resistant superbugs — germs that evolve so quickly, existing treatment options can't eradicate them.

But it's not just deadly drug-resistant bacterial infections that are spreading. We also have to worry about drug-resistant fungal infections, too.

A deadly, drug-resistant fungus called candida auris is spreading on a global scale and causing what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls "urgent threats."

In 2009, doctors first found candida auris in the ear discharge of a patient in Japan. Since then, the fungus has spread not just to the U.S., but also numerous other countries, including Colombia, India, and South Korea, according to the CDC.

The CDC reported the first seven cases of candida auris in the United States in August 2016. In May 2017, a total of 77 cases were reported in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma. After looking at people in contact with those first 77 cases, the CDC determined that the quick-spreading fungus had infected 45 more.

As of May 31, 2019, there are 685 confirmed cases of candida auris in the United States alone.

People with weakened immune systems are at high risk for candida auris

Typically, candida auris affects people with weakened immune systems who are in the hospital or have severe illnesses, according to the CDC. In fact, candida auris outbreaks have been reported in hospitals and healthcare centers around the world.

In the UK, an intensive care unit had to shut down after they found 72 people there were infected with candida auris, and in Spain, a hospital found 372 patients had the fungus. Some 41% of the Spanish hospital patients affected died within 30 days of being diagnosed.

Candida auris worries healthcare experts because it can't be contained with existing drug treatments. It even has the ability to survive on surfaces like walls and furniture for weeks on end, according to the CDC. People who contract these drug-resistant diseases typically die soon after contracting them because of their untreatable nature.

Most fungal and bacterial infections can be stopped using drugs. But with drug-resistant fungi and bacteria, their genes evolve so quickly that the treatment meant to target them proves ineffective and allows the dangerous disease to spread.

Taken from Insider
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