NEW YORK — Cases of a dangerous fungus infection in the US are spreading at an “alarming rate,” according to a recent CDC report, and now New York is taking steps to prevent more people from getting sick from it. infections.
Despite the fact that the number of cases in the country has tripled in just three years, and more than half of the states have now reported it, infections with the fungus known as Candida auris oc date back a few years in New York, with the first case detected in 2016 (another case from 2013 was retroactively identified and was the first case in the US).
On Wednesday, the State released a chart showing how many cases New York has seen in the past decade, with the most in 2022, as well as the previous two years during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Year | Number of Clinical Cases | Number of surveillance cases |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 26 | 11 |
| 2017 | 99 | 128 |
| 2018 | 158 | 254 |
| 2019 | 178 | 306 |
| 2020 | 250 | 200 |
| 2021 | 291 | 348 |
| 2022 | 379 | 498 |
| *2023 | 72 | 125 |
| Total* | 1454 | 1870 |
* The numbers for 2023 are as of March 22
The coronavirus likely drove part of the increase, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in the article published Monday by Annals of Internal Medicine. Hospital workers were tense about COVID-19 patients, and that likely diverted their focus from disinfecting other types of germs, they said.
Candida auris is a form of yeast that is generally not harmful to healthy people, but can be a deadly risk to frail patients in hospitals and nursing homes. It spreads easily and can infect wounds, ears, and the bloodstream. Some strains are so-called superbugs that are resistant to all three classes of antibiotics used to treat fungal infections.
It was first identified in Japan in 2009 and has been seen in more and more countries. The fungus can survive on surfaces in healthcare settings, where it can spread between patients. Those with multiple comorbidities and who require a breathing machine are among those most at risk of contracting the infection, the state said.
Most of the cases in New York have been found at facilities in the New York City area, although some have been outside the metropolitan area.
The new study found that cases continued to skyrocket across the country, reaching 476 in 2019, 756 in 2020, and then 1,471 in 2021. Doctors have also detected the fungus on the skin of thousands of other patients, leading them to becomes a risk of transmission to others.
Many of the early US cases were infections that had been imported from abroad, but now most infections spread within the country, the authors noted.
On Wednesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the first step in preventing the fungus from spreading is being able to identify and monitor cases “before they start to spread rapidly.” He went on to call the CDC report “troubling” but said the state Department of Health’s “ability to track these infections is leading in the country and continues to help us take the aggressive steps necessary to contain this threat and ensure that our health care facilities are safe.”
The state Department of Health said it will continue to provide guidance to help hospitals and nursing homes prepare for any potential outbreak, as well as help improve surveillance of the fungus while implementing prevention and control measures.
The department said anyone found to be infected with the fungus should be moved to a private room or to an area with patients or residents with the same infection, similar steps to those taken when COVID-19 ravaged the state in 2020.
Above all, Acting Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald stressed that “there is little risk of Candida auris for the general public” and explained how it can be prevented.
“Candida auris usually infects people who are already sick, it can be prevented with thorough hand washing and clean surfaces, as well as personal protective equipment,” he said. Dr. McDonald.
