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| An illustration of the Candida auris fungus. (Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library/Getty Images) |
According to a recent US study, the number of cases of the fungus Candida auris is fast increasing and is also emerging from more sources.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), C. auris is regarded as a "urgent antimicrobial resistance threat" in hospitals and was initially discovered in the United States in 2016.
The present study, which focused on a sizable health system in Miami, Florida, discovered that the number of recorded clinical cases increased from 5 in 2019 to 115 in 2023—a significant 2,200 percent increase in just four years.
"Consistent with US national trends, C. auris
rapidly spread in our community as noted by a sharp increase in the
identification of C. auris from clinical cultures in 2020 and 2021, followed by
a less steep rise in 2022 and 2023," the US researchers wrote in their
recently released report.
Numerous C. auris strains are resistant to typical cleansers and disinfectants
and do not react to standard treatments. In hospitals, the fungus spreads
swiftly, frequently through breathing and feeding tubes and catheters.
A C. auris infection can spread to the bloodstream, respiratory system, central
nervous system, organs, and skin, resulting in a number of severe and often
fatal diseases.
The public is not particularly at risk from the fungus. Because they are less exposed to C. auris and have superior defenses against it, the majority of healthy persons are unlikely to become infected.
The growing hazard, however, is a very real one for those who are already sick and in the hospital. The most frequent infection is still in the bloodstream, but infections in soft tissues, bones, and cerebrospinal fluid are becoming more frequent. Controlling C. auris will be more difficult the more bases there are to cover.
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| The CDC has issued guidelines for limiting C. auris spread. (CDC) |
Health professionals have been fighting to control C. auris since it was initially identified in Japan in 2009, and the trend that is developing in the US is being replicated throughout the rest of the world. In 2016, the first cases in the US were documented.
A study published nearly two years ago revealed that infections had spread to half of the US states, one of several warnings about the threat presented by C. auris. However, as this Miami study demonstrates, the increase is still occurring.
Among the many suggestions made by the CDC to prevent the spread of C. auris infections are the use of single-patient rooms wherever feasible and thorough cleaning practices for surfaces and equipment.
"Isolation and contact precautions are key to preventing the spread of C. auris," the researchers conclude.
"Our findings suggest that early identification of patients colonized with C. auris and the prompt deployment of infection prevention strategies can potentially impact the incidence of bloodstream infections."
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