In a horrifying case, a new mysterious fungus Candida auris (C. auris) is wildly spreading across regions of America,  Europe, Africa and Asia including India. Candida auris, preys on people with weak immune systems and is spreading across the globe like wildfire.

What is Candida auris?

C. auris is a fungus that is resistant to major anti-fungal medications available now. It is a dangerous fungus that can be life-threatening if it gets into the bloodstream.

C. auris was first identified in 2009 after it was isolated from the ear canal of a 70-year-old Japanese woman at the Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital in Japan. C. auris is resistant to most of the antifungal drugs and spreads very quickly.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled it  as “urgent threats.”

 

Why Candida auris is a threat?

 

·         C. auris bloodstream  infection can even lead to death.

·         Anti fungal medications used to treat Candida did not work on Candida auris  and it is resistant to medicines

·         Due to its ability to spread quickly C auris is becoming more common and more people are getting affected by the fungus

·         C. auris can be misidentified with other regular fungi but it can only be identified with specialized labroratory technology It’s difficult to identify

How much deadly it can be?

A recent article by the New York Times stated that an elderly man who was admitted to the Brooklyn branch of Mount Sinai Hospital died 90 days after being tested positive for C-auris infection. The fungus was so invasive that the walls, bed, curtains, sink everything was found positive. The hospital used special cleaning equipment and even then they had to rip out some of the ceiling and floor tiles to eradicate the fungus.

As per the CDC, more than 90 percent of C. auris infections are resistant to at least one drug, and 30 percent are resistant to two or more antibiotics. While the fungus is spreading and killing people rapidly, the doctors are still puzzled on its cure.

Over 587 cases of people having contracted C auris in the USA, while there may be many more cases in different countries but health experts and governments are keeping it secret.

In 2017, the Indian Council of Medical Research issued an advisory to all hospitals stating that mortality due to Candida auris ranges between 33% to 72%. For instant solutions, it suggested that patients with positive for infection caused by Candida auris should be kept in isolated rooms or with those with the same infection.

Researchers are still finding the origin of the fungus but they believe it has not originated from a single place, but across different parts of the world.

 Signs and symptoms of C. auris infection

 According to the CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) there may not be any distinctive noticable symptoms because C auris is mostly infected to patients who are already suffering from some other serious illness. 

C. auris is mostly spread in hospitals targeting people with weak immune system, it can spread from one patient to another through contact with contaminated surface and equipment.