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Found at: codevoid.de:70/cnn?/2023/03/20/health/fungus-candida-auris-increase


		
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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
An emerging fungal threat spread at an alarming rate in US health care
facilities, study says
By Janelle Chavez, CNN
Updated:
5:01 PM EDT, Mon March 20, 2023
Source: CNN
Clinical cases of Candida auris, an emerging fungus considered an
urgent threat, nearly doubled in 2021, according to new data from the
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There was also a tripling of the number of cases resistant to
echinocandins, the first-line treatment for Candida auris infections.
The research, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine,
evaluated cases of Candida auris reported to the CDC from 2016 – the
year in which cases were first reported in the US – to 2021.
The study authors found that clinical cases increased each year, rising
from 53 in 2016 to 330 in 2018 and then skyrocketing from 476 in 2019
to 1,471 in 2021.
Cases of Candida auris also expanded geographically. Although it was
initially confined mostly to the New York City and Chicago areas,
Candida auris is now present in more than half of US states. Between
2019 and 2021, 17 states identified their first cases.
The Candida auris an “urgent threat” because it is often
multidrug-resistant, easily spreads through health care facilities and
can cause deadly disease. It is also resistant to some common
disinfectants and can be carried on people’s skin without causing
symptoms, facilitating its spread to others.
The researchers wrote that the timing of this increased spread suggests
that it may have been exacerbated by “pandemic-related strain on the
health care and public health system.”
“The rapid rise and geographic spread of cases is concerning and
emphasizes the need for continued surveillance, expanded lab capacity,
quicker diagnostic tests, and adherence to proven infection prevention
and control,” CDC epidemiologist Dr. Meghan Lyman, lead author of the
study, said in a news release.
Increasing fungal threats
The spread of Candida auris in the US comes amid growing concerns about
health-threatening fungi.
Late last year, the World Health Organization released its first list
of “,” including Candida auris.
“Fungal pathogens are a major threat to public health as they are
becoming increasingly common and resistant to treatment with only four
classes of antifungal medicines currently available,” .
The organization says the expanding incidence and geographic range of
fungal disease may be due to global warming and the increase of
international trade and travel.
Candida auris itself first appeared as four strains on four continents
between 2009 and 2015. All four strains have now been identified in the
US, probably introduced through international travel, .
Transmission of the fungus within the US is largely driven by “poor
general infection prevention and control practices in healthcare
facilities,” the authors of the new study say. Most spread happens in
post-acute care facilities and ventilator-capable skilled-nursing
facilities.
Controlling the spread
Dr. Scott Roberts, an infectious-disease specialist at the Yale School
of Medicine who was not involved with the new study, warns that the
increased prevalence and drug resistance of Candida auris is a serious
health threat.
“I think this problem is not going to go away. I think it’s really
only going to increase over time,” he said.
Unlike other fungi that are typically acquired from the environment,
Candida auris is easily spread from person to person, Roberts said.
“Once it sets up shop, in a nursing home for example, it’s almost
impossible to eradicate,” he said. “Once it’s on patients too, it
can kind of just be colonized for years, if not their life.”
Public health officials have enhanced surveillance efforts to detect
Candida auris, including testing for the fungus on the bodies of
asymptomatic people. According to the new study, screening cases
tripled from 2020 to 2021, for a total of 4,041.
don’t usually get sick from Candida auris, according to the CDC.
Rather, it’s more likely to affect people who have serious medical
problems and require long stays in health care facilities, people with
weakened immune systems and people with medical devices going into
their bodies, such as breathing tubes or catheters. for Candida auris
can help protect people at increased risk of serious infection.

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