In 2009, Candida auris was identified in Asia, but it was not detected in the United States until 2016. From 2020 to 2021, the number of infections in the country increased by 95%.
According to a government study, a drug-resistant and potentially lethal fungus is spreading swiftly throughout US healthcare facilities.
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the Candida auris or C. auris fungus can cause severe illness in immunocompromised individuals.
Since the fungus was first reported in the United States in 2016, the number of people diagnosed with C. auris and the number of people discovered to be infected through screening have increased at an alarming rate.
Scientists believe C. auris first appeared elsewhere a decade before its 2009 finding in Asia.
Dr. Meghan Lyman, the chief medical officer of the CDC’s mycotic diseases branch, stated that the increases “especially in recent years” are extremely concerning.
“We’ve seen increases not only in areas where transmission is ongoing but also in new areas,” she stated.
Dr. Lyman also expressed concern regarding the growing number of fungus samples resistant to the most common treatments.
The fungus is “worrisome,” according to Dr. Waleed Javaid, an epidemiologist, and director of infection prevention and control at Mount Sinai Downtown in New York.
“But we don’t want ‘The Last of Us’ viewers to think we’re all going to die,” Dr. Javaid said.
This is an infection that typically affects severely ill patients with a variety of other illnesses.
The fungus, which is present on the epidermis and throughout the body, poses no danger to healthy individuals.
However, approximately one-third of those infected with C. auris perish.
The fungus has been detected in over fifty percent of U.S. states. Infections increased by 95% in the United States between 2020 and 2021.
The new research arrives at a time when Mississippi is experiencing a growing fungus outbreak.
According to the state’s health department, there have been 12 infections and four “potentially associated deaths” since November.
