Candida Auris- Why This Fungus Is An Emerging Threat

New York, 7 April 2019: Candida auris can, did, and is continuing to spread in hospitals around the world. It can remain on people's skin and objects, such as hospital furniture and equipment, for quite a long time. Thus, it can spread indirectly from patient to patient. It can invade your body and kill you if your immune system is weakened. It can be resistant to the three major classes of anti-fungal drugs, leaving doctors with few options to treat C. auris infections.
 
Therefore, candi-don't take lightly what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has dubbed a "global emerging threat." At yeast, get to know more about this yeast.
 
To get a sense of how troublesome Candida auris can be, take a look at a study published last year in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. This study reviewed 51 cases of C. auris infections that had occurred in healthcare facilities in New York City from 2016 to 2018. All of the patients already had serious medical conditions prior to getting infected and ranged in age from 21 to 96 years old. Nearly half (45%) of the patients ended up dying within 90 days of being diagnosed with C. auris infections. Nearly all (98%) of the C. auris samples from 50 of the patients were resistant to fluconazole, a commonly used anti-fungal drug. Testing of different objects and rooms revealed C. auris in the environments of 15 of the 20 healthcare facilities.
 
Typically, C. auris infections occur after a patient has been in a healthcare facility for several weeks. The most commonly reported infections have been in wounds, bloodstreams, and ears. Doctors have found the fungus in people's urine and respiratory tracts, but it is unclear whether the fungus just hangs out in those places without causing trouble. For now, if your immune system is strong, your chances of getting a life-threatening C. auris infection are very low. Risk goes up if you have a chronic disease like diabetes mellitus or have had recent surgery, recent antibiotic treatment, or a central venous catheter. However, as Sarah Connor said in the Terminator, the future is unknown. Who knows if one day C. auris will be a threat to healthy people as well?Forbes