US health officials are warning about the spread of a dangerous drug-resistant fungal infection that can be difficult to spot because its symptoms often resemble those of other conditions.
Candida auris is a fungal infection that can lead to severe illness, although people with healthy immune systems are generally unlikely to become sick from C. auris, according to Cleveland Clinic. Even so, they may still pass it on to others, and the fungus is frequently transmitted in hospitals and other care settings.
CDC figures showed 3,437 clinical cases across 27 states as of July 25. The fungus has been labeled an “urgent antimicrobial resistance threat” by federal health officials due to its rapid spread and resistance to multiple classes of antifungal medications.
A major concern with Candida auris is its ability to remain on the skin for months without causing noticeable symptoms. This is known as “colonization,” and people in that state can still spread it to surfaces and objects around them.
The CDC also says people “requiring complex medical care and invasive medical devices” face a higher risk. According to recent data, the vast majority of clinical cases, about 88 percent, occurred in people over the age of 45.
Dr. Ilan Schwartz, an associate professor of medicine at Duke University, told CNN Health that the fungus can cause symptoms such as “fever low blood pressure or a high heart rate”.
Those warning signs can be hard to identify because many illnesses and other medical factors, especially in hospitalized patients, can trigger the same symptoms.
If the fungus gets into the bloodstream, it can also lead to sepsis, which can be fatal. C. auris candida bloodstream infections have an estimated crude mortality rate of 47 percent, while non-bloodstream infections have a mortality rate of approximately 31 percent.
Schwartz said people who “are hospitalized or living in other medical settings” are the ones who should be watched most closely for these symptoms.
“Generally, these are going to be in patients who are already hospitalized and who are being monitored, and so the healthcare team should be well aware already if patients are showing signs of a general infection, so I don’t think that it’s something individuals need to be vigilant about,” he added.
Doctors can check for the infection by taking a swab from the armpit or groin.
People can contract Candida auris in two main ways. One is when the fungus is present on a person’s skin. The other is when it enters the body, which can happen through a break in the skin.
In someone with a weakened immune system, the body may be unable to fight it off, potentially leading to a “big infection”.
By the week ending July 25, California had reported the highest number of cases with 873.
Texas followed with 433 cases, while Tennessee had 283.
A significant challenge in treating C. auris is antifungal resistance. Over 95 percent of isolates are resistant to fluconazole, a first-line antifungal treatment, while 15 percent are resistant to amphotericin B. Echinocandins remain the preferred first-line treatment, with only about 1 percent of isolates showing resistance to this drug class.
The CDC notes that because many patients who become sick with C. auris were already dealing with other illnesses, when they die “it is hard to know how much C. auris contributed to their death compared to other pre-existing illnesses.”