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Public health experts are concerned about cases of a fungus called Candida auris (C. auris) in the United States. It has already been reported in the country, but these new cases are cause for concern because of its resistance to treatment with existing drugs.
There have been cases where the fungal infection has become resistant to drugs in patients who have received treatment. The new cases were reported on July 23 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“This is the first time that we have in fact identified clusters with common health care exposures in the same facilities and among patients who had not received antifungals,” explains Meghan Lyman, medical officer of the branch. of fungal diseases from the CDC’s National Center for Emerging. and zoonotic infectious diseases, for STAT.
The new cases of drug resistance were reported in DC and Texas between January and April 2021, according to the MMWR. Three isolates in DC and two in Texas were pan-resistant, meaning they were resistant to all three classes of antifungal drugs. Five cases in Texas were resistant to two classes of drugs.
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Institutional health experts tested C. auris from skin samples from patients in healthcare facilities, including long-term care facilities. “We tend to see transmission and to see cases among patients who are in these high acuity long-term care facilities…” says Lyman. “Getting Covid and then having these complications puts them at a higher risk. to contract Candida auris. “
Treatment options for C. auris are limited and drug resistance is a growing problem. If this evidence is what it appears to be, it could mean that the fungus can spread and patients can develop potentially incurable infections. “These cases are where the options are really limited. There are few treatment options for these patients who have clinical infections, ”explains Lyman. “And the fact that now it can spread, it’s not just in patients who are already receiving treatment … means that a greater proportion of patients can have pan-resistance and [may] develop potentially incurable clinical infections.
Experts fear these new cases are a sign that transmission of pan-resistant strains of C. auris is occurring in hospitals and clinics where very sick patients are being treated. “With all of this spread that we’ve seen across the country, we’re really encouraging health departments and health facilities to be more proactive rather than reactive in identifying Candida auris in general,” Lyman says. “Because we have found that controlling the situation and containing the spread is really easier when identified early before there is widespread transmission.”
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