[ad_1]
Health officials in Illinois reported Monday 154 confirmed cases of a fast-spreading and potentially fatal fungal disease, with a high concentration in the Chicago area.
This total makes Illinois the state with the second highest number of Candida auris cases in the country, behind only New York. The fungus is often resistant to drug treatment and is particularly dangerous for elderly and sick patients who have undergone invasive medical procedures.
In cases where Candida auris invades the blood, heart or brain, more than one in 3 patients dies. State officials on Monday had no statistics available on deaths in Illinois.
The disease is difficult to identify and treat, but the Illinois Department of Public Health reports that it is becoming more common, especially in health care facilities. The vast majority of cases occur in qualified nursing facilities for ventilated patients or in long-term care hospitals.
The disease was discovered for the first time in Japan in 2009 and is now present in more than 20 countries. He reached Illinois in 2016.
Candida auris has been the subject of repeated warnings from public health officials, including US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since then, it has spread rapidly in the Chicago area, to the point that Illinois has about a quarter of cases nationwide.
The fungus can often be found on people's skin. Screening of patients revealed 453 people who had yeast on their body but who were not sick. But it can be passed on to health care facilities through contact with people or contaminated surfaces, the state said.
Healthy people usually do not get Candida auris infections. It strikes more often people who already have several underlying conditions. It is after invasive medical procedures or wounds that patients have more often been infected. Four in five patients with Candida auris had an intravenous infusion, two-thirds had wounds and half or more had a feeding or breathing tube or urinary catheter.
Dr. Max Brito, associate professor of infectious diseases at the University of Illinois at the Chicago College of Medicine, said that Candida is the latest addition to a range of multidrug-resistant organisms that health officials have to deal with.
"It's a combination of factors that makes you more likely to have such a bug," he said. "It's a concern for people with chronic illness or weakened immune systems."
One theory, he said, is that the current use of antifungals in the agricultural industry can contribute to the development of a treatment-resistant fungus.
In the United States, many cases have withstood at least one antifungal treatment, but health officials said the vast majority of cases in Illinois responded to treatment. Ninety-five of the known cases in the state are in Chicago, 56 in Cook County in the suburbs, seven in DuPage counties, Lake and Will and three near St. Louis.
To limit the spread of the disease, officials advise visitors to health facilities to wash their hands with a hand sanitizer or soap and water before and after touching a patient or medical devices, and remind caregivers to wash their hands.
Health facilities must keep patients in their own room or with other patients with the same infection, and must thoroughly clean and disinfect the room and equipment daily. Yeast was found in all patient rooms, from bed barriers to blood pressure cuffs, to carts and window sills. Common antibacterials may not work on the mushroom, so the CDC recommends hospital-grade extra-potent disinfectants.
The Illinois Department of Public Health and local health departments are collaborating with health facilities to implement infection control practices, including the use of gloves and gowns, the Ministry of Health said. spokesperson Melaney Arnold in an email. Health officials perform tests to identify new cases and investigate all clinical cases to identify possible exposures and reduce spread.
Twitter @RobertMcCoppin
[ad_2]
Source link