A deadly fungal infection called candida auris is spreading

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A deadly fungal infection called candida auris is spreading across the globe, and no one knows how to stop it

Julia Naftulin 

A fungus called candida auris is spreading around the world at an alarming rate because it is resistant to drug treatments.

Some experts believe the global increase in candida auris is due in part to climate change.


Drug-resistant "superbugs" like candida auris evolve to resist existing treatments. That makes them exceptionally dangerous.

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Every year, an estimated 23,000 Americans die from antibiotic-resistant superbugs — germs that evolve so quickly, existing treatment options can't eradicate them.



But it's not just deadly drug-resistant bacterial infections that are spreading. We also have to worry about drug-resistant fungal infections, too.



A deadly, drug-resistant fungus called candida auris is spreading on a global scale and causing what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls "urgent threats."



In 2009, doctors first found candida auris in the ear discharge of a patient in Japan. Since then, the fungus has spread not just to the U.S., but also numerous other countries, including Colombia, India, and South Korea, according to the CDC.



The CDC reported the first seven cases of candida auris in the United States in August 2016. In May 2017, a total of 77 cases were reported in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma. After looking at people in contact with those first 77 cases, the CDC determined that the quick-spreading fungus had infected 45 more.



As of May 31, 2019, there are 685 confirmed cases of candida auris in the United States alone.



People with weakened immune systems are at high risk for candida auris

sick cold tissues

People with weakened immune systems due to illness or age are more likely to be infected with candida auris. iStock

Typically, candida auris affects people with weakened immune systems who are in the hospital or have severe illnesses, according to the CDC. In fact, candida auris outbreaks have been reported in hospitals and healthcare centers around the world.



In the UK, an intensive care unit had to shut down after they found 72 people there were infected with candida auris, and in Spain, a hospital found 372 patients had the fungus. Some 41% of the Spanish hospital patients affected died within 30 days of being diagnosed.



Candida auris worries healthcare experts because it can't be contained with existing drug treatments. It even has the ability to survive on surfaces like walls and furniture for weeks on end, according to the CDC. People who contract these drug-resistant diseases typically die soon after contracting them because of their untreatable nature.



Read more: A Nevada woman died from a bug that resisted 26 antibiotics — here's why it's so hard to develop new ones



Most fungal and bacterial infections can be stopped using drugs. But with drug-resistant fungi and bacteria, their genes evolve so quickly that the treatment meant to target them proves ineffective and allows the dangerous disease to spread.



Candida auris is difficult to diagnose and resistant to treatment

To make matters worse, many people who carry drug-resistant diseases don't show any symptoms and spread them unknowingly. According to the CDC, 1 in 10 people the agency screened for superbugs carried a drug-resistant disease without knowing it.



More specifically, someone may not realize they have candida auris if they are also sick with another illness, the CDC wrote on its website. Fever and chills that don't go away following drug treatment are common candida auris symptoms, but the only way to diagnose the fungus is through a lab test.



Some experts say climate change is contributing to the global spread of candida auris

Doctors and researchers are still unsure what causes drug-resistant diseases, but they do know there are different strains of candida auris in different parts of the world, causing them to believe the fungus didn't come from a single place, The New York Times reported.



Some experts think heavy use of pesticides and other antifungal treatments caused candida auris to pop up in a variety of locations around the same time. In 2013, researchers reported on another drug-resistant fungus called Aspergillus and observed that it existed in places where a pesticide that targeted that specific fungus was used.



As pesticides, antifungals, and antibiotics continue to be heavily used on crops and in livestock, it's possible that the fungi and bacteria they're targeting learn how to evolve to stay alive in spite of the treatments.



Some researchers believe the global rise in candida auris is due in part to climate change, according to a recent editorial from the American Society for Microbiology.



"As the climate has gotten warmer, some of these organisms, including candida auris, have adapted to the higher temperature, and as they adapt, they break through human's protective temperatures," Dr. Arturo Casadevall, chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said in a release.



Until researchers are able to pinpoint the cause of these drug-resistant diseases, however, the CDC is urging people to use soap and hand sanitizer before and after touching any patients, and reporting cases to public health departments right away.



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