Author: Caitlin Tilley Published: 3/21/2023 Health Report Daily News
US health chiefs are warning about the dangers of a rapidly spreading deadly fungus — just a week after the hit zombie show The Last of Us wrapped up.
The American College of Physicians (ACAP) said the rise and spread of Candida auris, also known as C auris, is ‘concerning’. It is a microscopic yeast strain that does not form germ tubes and is rarely detected in the natural environment.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) already described the fungus, which kills up to 60 percent of people it infects, as an ‘urgent threat’ in 2019.
But the new research has revealed case numbers more than tripled across America between 2020 and 2021, with multidrug-resistant strains also becoming more common.
Most transmission occurs in healthcare facilities, especially among residents of long-term care facilities or among persons with indwelling devices or mechanical ventilators. Healthy people do not usually get sick, but among the frail and vulnerable, it kills between 30 and 60 percent.
