Candida Auris Became An Emerging Threat to Our Health

Candida Auris Became An Emerging Threat to Our Health
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Candida Auris is a fungus that is now spreading in hospitals around the world. The problem is that this yeast is more and more resistant to anti-fungal drugs and other medicines, so Candida Auris became an emerging threat to our health. Even more, Candida Auris might become lethal if your body’s immune system is weak.

C. Auris can spread from one patient to another quickly and without problems. We cannot do anything against that, and now it seems that this yeast’s resistance to medicines is real trouble for humans. That’s why the CDC described Candida Auris as “an emerging global threat.”

A new study on Candida Auris, conducted on “572 persons not known to be infected and who resided in or were admitted to 19 facilities (9 hospitals; 10 LTCFs, of which 7 were VSNFs), 4 healthcare workers, and 4 family members of 1 clinical case-patient,” described the intensity of the threat.

Candida Auris Became An Emerging Threat to Our Health

“For 38 persons (clinical and screening case-patients), follow-up cultures were performed, either for clinical reasons or to determine whether they remained colonized. Long-term colonization was common. Of 346 persons for whom nares and composite axilla–groin samples for culture were collected on the same day, results were positive for at least one site for 36 (10%). Of these 36, results were positive for both sites for 14 (39%), at axilla–groin only for 13 (36%), and at nares only for 9 (25%),” the researchers wrote.

“This large, citywide, multiple-institution outbreak of C. Auris infections is ongoing. As of February 2018, most confirmed clinical cases in the United States had been identified in New York, and case numbers continue to grow. The reasons for the preponderance of cases in New York are unknown; possibilities include a true higher prevalence from multiple introductions into this international port of entry, more complete detection from aggressive case finding, presence of a large interconnected network of healthcare facilities in NYC, or a combination of all 3 factors,” the scientists added.

In short, Candida Auris is an emerging threat to our health, and the fact that it spread widely in hospitals is only increasing the magnitude of this problem.


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