Health experts issued a warning regarding the rapid spread of Candida auris, a rare and drug-resistant fungus that has been identified in Connecticut.
The increasingly spreading fungus is also referred to as “superbug,” Candida auris, as it may endanger your health due to three key factors: resistance to multiple antifungal drugs, its transmission capability from person to person, and the difficulty many laboratories have in identifying it.
Dr. Scott Roberts, an infectious disease specialist at Yale New Haven Health, said “The first is, it can be multidrug resistant, an infectious disease specialist at Yale New Haven Health and Yale New Haven Hospital. “We only have three good classes of medications for fungal diseases. Some strains out there are resistant to all three.”
Unlike most fungal infections that are often contracted from surfaces, Candida auris can easily transmit in healthcare settings such as hospitals and nursing homes, where it can persist on surfaces and equipment despite cleaning.
Initially detected in 2009, the fungus spread has seen a major spike. As per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, clinical cases across the US spiked from 51 in 2016 to more than 4,500 by 2023.
Some researchers also detected the fungus in wastewater nationwide, suggesting broader circulation.
It is pertinent to mention that eight clinical cases since 2016, though experts believe infections may be undercounted.
It may lead to life-threatening situations for immuno-suppressed individuals or invasive medical devices, where it may cause fatal bloodstream infections.
