[Pharmwaste] This drug-resistant fungus is showing up in health care settings

[Deborah DeBiasi]

https://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/what-candida-auris?utm_source=Weekly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e19215f987-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_MON0410_2019&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fcbff2e256-e19215f987-42469305



What is Candida auris?

This drug-resistant fungus is showing up in health care settings

[image: Mary Jo DiLonardo] <https://www.mnn.com/users/mdilonardo>

Mary Jo DiLonardo <https://www.mnn.com/users/mdilonardo>

April 8, 2019, 10:55 a.m.



[image: hospital setting, hands on bedrail]

C. auris can last on surfaces like chairs and bedrails for a long time,
which allows it to spread easily in health care settings. (Photo: Syda
Productions/Shutterstock)

An infectious, drug-resistant fungus that kills about half of the people it
infects is spreading around the globe, including the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports
<https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/candida-auris/tracking-c-auris.html> that there
are more than 587 cases confirmed in the U.S. of the serious and sometimes
deadly fungal infection Candida auris. The infection is often spread in
health care settings.

The CDC has called it "a serious global health threat" and has added it to
a list of now three urgent antibiotic-resistant threats
<https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/biggest_threats.html>.

Most C. auris cases in the U.S. have been detected in the New York City
area, New Jersey and the Chicago area, but cases have been confirmed in 12
states.

Understanding this new threat

[image: A strain of Candida auris cultured in a petri dish at the CDC.]
<https://media.mnn.com/assets/images/2016/11/candida-auris.jpg.838x0_q80.jpg>A
strain of Candida auris cultured in a petri dish at the CDC. (Photo: CDC)

The CDC is concerned about C. auris because it's often resistant to the
antifungal drugs commonly used to treat other *Candida* infections. It's
also difficult to identify and diagnose with standard testing methods,
leading to inappropriate, ineffective treatment.

The fungus can also spread rapidly in health care settings. Most Candida do
not spread from person to person, but C. auris does. The CDC says what is
"different and particularly scary" about C. auris is that it can last on
skin and surfaces like chairs and bedrails for a long time, which allows it
to spread from person to person in health care settings.

Although anyone can be susceptible to an infection, risk factors include
patients with diabetes or who've had recent surgery or central venous
catheter placement or those using broad-spectrum antibiotics and
antifungals. It targets people with weakened immune systems such as the
elderly and infants.

Nearly half of the patients who contract C. auris die within 90 days
<https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/10/18-0649_article>, according to the
CDC.

The CDC is recommending that doctors use special cleaning and disinfecting
protocols to protect against C. auris. The agency is also working with labs
to make sure they're using the correct tests to diagnose the fungus.

The mystery started in Japan

C. auris was first identified
<http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6544e1.htm> in Japan in 2009,
where it was found in the ear canal of a patient who complained of an ear
infection. Although "auris" is the Latin word for ear, the fungus can
affect many other regions of the body, according to the CDC.

Since then, the fungus has been reported in more than 30 countries
including Canada, Colombia, India, Israel, Kenya, Kuwait, Pakistan, South
Africa, South Korea, Venezuela and the United Kingdom.
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