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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#0000cc"><a href="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">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</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#0000cc"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:20.5pt;font-family:Arimo;color:black">What is Candida auris?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:22.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">This drug-resistant fungus is showing up in health care settings</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.mnn.com/users/mdilonardo"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#389bd3;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="70" height="70" style="width:.7291in;height:.7291in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D4EF82.C0E35D60" alt="Mary Jo DiLonardo"></span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333"><a href="https://www.mnn.com/users/mdilonardo"><span style="color:#389bd3;text-decoration:none">Mary Jo DiLonardo </span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">April 8, 2019, 10:55 a.m.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333"><img border="0" width="653" height="436" style="width:6.802in;height:4.5416in" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D4EF82.C0E35D60" alt="hospital setting, hands on bedrail"></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">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) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">An infectious, drug-resistant fungus that kills about half of the people it infects is spreading around the globe, including the United States. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/candida-auris/tracking-c-auris.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#389bd3;text-decoration:none">reports</span></a> 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. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">The CDC has called it "a serious global health threat" and has added it to a list of now three <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/biggest_threats.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#389bd3;text-decoration:none">urgent antibiotic-resistant threats</span></a>. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">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. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:22.5pt;font-family:Arimo;color:#333333">Understanding this new threat</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><a href="https://media.mnn.com/assets/images/2016/11/candida-auris.jpg.838x0_q80.jpg"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#389bd3;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="461" height="496" style="width:4.802in;height:5.1666in" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D4EF82.C0E35D60" alt="A strain of Candida auris cultured in a petri dish at the CDC."></span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">A strain of Candida auris cultured in a petri dish at the CDC. (Photo: CDC)</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">The CDC is concerned about C. auris because it's often resistant to the antifungal drugs commonly used to treat other <i>Candida</i> infections. It's also difficult to identify and diagnose with standard testing methods, leading to inappropriate, ineffective treatment. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">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. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">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. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">Nearly half of the patients who contract C. auris <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/10/18-0649_article" target="_blank"><span style="color:#389bd3;text-decoration:none">die within 90 days</span></a>, according to the CDC. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">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. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:22.5pt;font-family:Arimo;color:#333333">The mystery started in Japan</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">C. auris was <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6544e1.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color:#389bd3;text-decoration:none">first identified</span></a> 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. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">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. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#0000cc"> </span></p></div></body></html>