Global Warning- Candida auris is new deadly fungal superbug

Global Warning- Candida Auris is a new deadly fungal superbug.

DELHI: A drug-resistant superbug fungus called Candida Auris is fastly gripping the entire world and is on a verge of becoming a global health threat, warn the health officials. Seeing the threat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added it to a list of germs, which are considered as "urgent threats."This is a cause of concern because of the ever-increasing antimicrobial resistance.

Alarmingly, it has resulted in the death of 30-60% of people who developed C. auris infections.

Antimicrobial resistance happens when microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites) change when they are exposed to antimicrobial drugs (such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antimalarials, and anthelmintics). Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as "superbugs". It threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi and is a cause of drainage of economic resources worldwide.

The fungus Candida Auris preys on people with weakened immune systems, including the elderly and the very young. It has popped up across the globe including India, Pakistan, South Korea, Europe, Canada, U.S., Venezuela, Oman, Israel, and South Africa. A total of 617 cases have been reported in the US till March 29, 2019. Officials say the fungus is growing more resistant to antifungal medications and can turn deadly.

In 2018, an elderly man died due to the fungal infection after abdominal surgery in Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. The fungus has caused illnesses globally with reports in more than 20 countries.

Fungicides called azoles have been implicated in the rise of another drug-resistant fungus, Aspergillus fumigatus, according to 2012 research in the journal PLOS Pathogens. Some researchers think these same antifungals have opened a niche for the strongest, most fungicide-resistant strains of C. Auris to survive.

People who recently had surgery, live in nursing homes, or who have breathing tubes, feeding tubes or central venous catheters are especially at higher risk of developing this deadly infection.

Patients can remain colonized with C. Auris for a long time and the fungus can survive on hospital surface for the long duration. This facilitates the spread of C. Auris between patients in healthcare facilities.

C. Auris can cause different types of infections, including bloodstream infection, wound infection, and ear infection. The symptoms of C. Auris infection are not easily identifiable as the patients are already critically ill.

According to the CDC, infection with C. auris is of concern because:

• It is often multidrug-resistant.


• It kills


• It is difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods, and it can be misidentified in labs without specific technology, which can lead to inappropriate management.


• It has caused outbreaks in healthcare settings. For this reason, it is important to quickly identify C. auris in a hospitalized patient so that healthcare facilities can take special precautions to stop its spread.

While most Candida Auris infections are treatable with antifungal medications, health officials say they're concerned that some have proven to be resistant to all three main classes of antifungal medications.