Deadly fungal infection Candida auris spreading at an ‘alarming rate’ in humans

Cases of a potentially deadly fungal infection have tripled in humans with warnings treatments are proving ineffective.

A potentially deadly fungal infection that is resistant to the most common treatment is spreading at an “alarming rate”, US authorities have said.

One-third of people with invasive candida auris infections die, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said in a new briefing.

Cases tripled in the two years to 2021 – from 476 to 1471.

People who have been “colonised” by the fungus but not infected by it also rose threefold between 2020 and 2021 to more than 4000.

Healthy people are not at risk from candida auris. But those with weakened immune systems can suffer illnesses or die.

One researcher said while the findings were “worrisome” it was not a Last Of Us scenario.

A medical illustration of candida auris fungal organisms. Picture: CDC/Medical Illustrator: Stephanie Rossow

“Candida auris, an emerging fungus considered an urgent antimicrobial resistance threat, spread at an alarming rate in US healthcare facilities in 2020-2021,” the CDC said on Monday, US time.

“Equally concerning was a tripling in 2021 of the number of cases that were resistant to echinocandins, the antifungal medicine most recommended for treatment.

“It is often resistant to multiple antifungal drugs, spreads easily in healthcare facilities, and can cause severe infections with high death rates.”

Candida auris was first reported in the US in 2016 and has now been found in half of the country’s states. There have been cases in Australia but as yet only very few.

The fungus is a type of yeast that can enter the bloodstream and spread through the body.

It can cause bloodstream, wound and ear infections.

Candida auris can enter the system through surgery or tubes, such as catheters.

CDC figures suggest many people who have candida auris in their system won't even know it’s there and will be untroubled.

Of the patients who are diagnosed, many are elderly or in healthcare settings. It can enter the body through, for instance, feeding tubes and catheters, or following recent surgeries.

The CDC said a further problem with candida auris is that it can be difficult to identify and can be misidentified, leading to the wrong treatment.

However, an increasing focus on identifying it may actually be one of the reasons for the growth in case numbers.

While around a third of people with the infection have died, many of those had other serious infections which increased their risk of death.

Health authorities in the state of Mississippi are fighting a candida auris outbreak. Since November, 12 people have been diagnosed with the fungus and four have died.

An epidemiologist has said candida auris is not a Last Of Us scenario. Picture: HBO

Not ‘The Last of Us’

Talking to the US’ NBC News, Dr Waleed Javaid, an epidemiologist at New York’s Mount Sinai hospital, said the spread of candida auris was “worrisome”.

“But we don’t want people who watched The Last Of Us to think we’re all going to die.”

TheLast of Us is a video game and subsequent television series where a fungus infects human brains.

“This is an infection that occurs in extremely ill individuals who are usually sick with a lot of other issues.”

Dr Javaid said the main challenge was preventing its spread within healthcare and elderly care facilities.

“By its nature it has an extreme ability to survive on surfaces,” he said. “It can colonise walls, cables, bedding, chairs. We clean everything with bleach and UV light.”