Fungal infection or mycosis is a skin disease caused by a fungus. There are millions of species of fungi. Fungal infections are common, but some can be life-threatening.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a deadly and highly drug-resistant fungus is spreading very rapidly in hospitals and other health facilities across the United States.
CDC reported that fungal infections from the yeast strain known as Candida auris (C. auris) have tripled from 476 to 1,471 between 2019 and 2021. The cases rose even more in 2022, CDC reported 2,377 clinical infections between January and December of last year. The number has continued to rise.
Why is C. auris dangerous?
C. auris can spread either from the person-to-person transmission or by people coming into contact with contaminated surfaces. Scientists believe though It’s not a threat to healthy people whose immune system is strong to fight it off, but it poses a danger to medically fragile people.
What makes C. auris dangerous is that this fungus is drug-resistant, which means it will not respond to commonly used antifungal drugs.
How fatal is C. auris infection?
This fungus can cause infections that are fatal in the heart, brain, and bloodstream. According to experts, between 30% and 70% of patients who develop bloodstream infections end up dying from the infection.
