New worldwide alarm for the spread of Candida auris, a fungus that is difficult to cure and lethal. The growing concern arises because the fungus is spreading to various areas of the planet and is multidrug-resistant to the most commonly used drugs. Furthermore, it is difficult to identify. Infections have been found in patients of all ages, from infants to the elderly.
The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have raised the alarm: candida auris is spreading to various parts of the world. Candida auris, infoma the CDC site is an emerging mushroom that represents a serious threat to global health.
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In addition, candida auris can easily spread among patients in the healthcare setting and caused numerous outbreaks associated with health care which have been difficult to control.
There are three main reasons for scientists’ concern
There are three main reasons for scientists’ concern (we talked about it a few days ago). First of all the fungus is often multi-resistant, which means it is resistant to multiple commonly used antifungal drugs to treat Candida infections. Some strains are resistant to all three available classes of antifungals. Candida auris can cause infections associated with one in-hospital mortality up to 40%. Most strains of candida auris are resistant to at least one antifungal drug, one third are resistant to two classes of antifungal drugs and some strains are resistant to all three major classes of antifungal drugs.
Furthermore, it is difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods and can be confused and misidentified in laboratories without specific technology. Misidentification can lead to inappropriate handling of the problem.
Finally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, candida auris has already caused outbreaks in health facilities. For this reason, it is important to identify quickly the specific fungus in a hospitalized patient, so that healthcare facilities can take special precautions to stop its spread.
How the alarm was born
Healthcare facilities in several countries have reported that a type of yeast called Candida auris caused serious illness in hospitalized patients. In some patients, this fungus can enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body, causing severe invasive infections. This mushroom often unresponsive to commonly used antifungal medicationsmaking infections difficult to treat. Patients who have been hospitalized in a healthcare facility for a long time, have a central venous catheter or other lines or tubes entering their body, or have previously received antibiotics or antifungal drugs, appear to be at a higher risk of infection with this fungus .
Are needed specialized laboratory methods to accurately identify the candida auris. Conventional laboratory techniques could lead to misidentification and inappropriate handling of the problem.
Who is at risk of infection?
People who have recently spent time in nursing homes and have lines and tubes entering their body (such as breathing tubes, feeding tubes, and central venous catheters), They seem to be at higher risk of infection da candida auris.
Data suggests that risk factors for infections are generally similar to risk factors for other types of Candida infections. These risk factors include recent surgery, diabetes, use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and antifungals.
In addition, infections were found in patients of all ages, from preterm infants to the elderly. More studies are needed to learn more about the risk factors for C. auris infection.
Symptoms and consequences of candida auris
The clinical manifestation of candida auris infection depends on the site of the infection. Candida auris has caused bloodstream infections, wound infections, and ear infections. It has also been isolated from respiratory and urine samples, but it is unclear whether it causes lung or bladder infections.
Like other candida infections, candida auris infections are usually diagnosed by culture of blood or other body fluids.
Where was candida auris first identified
Candida auris was first identified in 2009 in Japan. Retrospective review of collections of candida strains found that the earliest known strain dates back to 1996 in South Korea. CDC considers this fungus an emerging pathogen because an increasing number of infections have been identified in more countries since it was recognized.
Candida auris infections have been reported from over 30 countries, including the United States. Because the identification of this fungus requires specialized laboratory methods, infections likely have occurred in other countries but have not been identified or reported (click here for a map of the countries with reported cases).
Source and Photo: cdc.gov
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