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Creature from 'Black Lagoon’: CDC warns of fungal infection that poses global health threat
The yeast is reported to be able to enter the bloodstream and spread through the body leading to invasive infections.
Scientists at the US’ Center for Disease Control and Prevention have sent out a warning for a deadly fungus Candida auris that has the potential of becoming a global health threat. Several countries have reported that Candida auris, first identified in Asia in 2009, has caused severe illness in hospitalised patients. The yeast is reported to be able to enter the bloodstream and spread through the body leading to invasive infections.
"CDC fungal experts had never received a report describing a Candida infection resistant to all antifungal medications, let alone Candida that spreads easily between patients. After hearing the news that infections like this were identified by international colleagues in 2016, CDC sounded the alarm in the United States about C. auris, a life-threatening Candida species," a CDC report stated.
"It is a creature from the black lagoon. It bubbled up and now it is everywhere," The Sun quoted CDC's Dr Tom Chiller as saying.
Here's all you need to know about the fungus:
1. The severe infection causing pathogen is multi-drug resistant meaning it is resistant to multi antifungal drugs used to treat types of Candida.
2. Standard laboratory methods can misidentify the fungus without specialised technology which can cause greater mismanagement.
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3. It can cause outbreaks in the healthcare environment and hence it is important to identify C auris in a hospitalised patient quickly to control the spread.
4. While it is yet not clear if it caused lung or bladder infection, C auris has caused bloodstream, wound and ear infections.
5. Hospitalised patients or people who have recently been discharged from healthcare facilities after invasive surgeries in which lines and tubes go into the body like breathing tubes, feeding tubes and central venous catheters are the most vulnerable group.
6. Severe infections by the pathogen can be fatal. Based on limited data, CDC has said 30-60 per cent people with C auris infections have died.
7. Infections have been diagnosed in people of all ages from infants to elderly.
8. The fungus is also resistant to common healthcare disinfectants.
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9. The fungus can be carried on a patient's skin without causing infection, allowing spread to others.
10. Cases of C auris infections have been reported in several parts of the world including the US, eastern Asia, South America and Africa.
