NYT HEALTH: Deadly Fungus Spread Rapidly During the Pandemic, C.D.C. Says
By Matt Richtel
Section: Health
Source: New York Times
Published Date: March 20, 2023 at 02:00AM
The fungus, called Candida auris, preys primarily on older people with weakened immune systems and is particularly dangerous because it resists treatment by common antifungal medications. C. auris was first reported in the United States in 2016, showing up most notably in New York and Illinois, where public health officials hoped they could contain it by rigorous screening and infection control in long-term care facilities and nursing homes.
But over the course of 2021, state and local health departments around the country reported 1,474 clinical cases, more than a 200 percent increase over 476 cases in 2019.
The surge represents a “dramatic increase” in case load and transmission of C. auris, according to a research paper published Monday in the Annals of Medicine and compiled by researchers at the C.D.C. The fungus is now in half the states, many with just a handful of cases, but with higher concentrations in California, Nevada, Texas and Florida.
By Matt Richtel
Section: Health
Source: New York Times
Published Date: March 20, 2023 at 02:00AM
Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungus that health officials hoped to contain is now in more than half the 50 states, according to a new research paper.
A deadly fungus that is considered an urgent public health threat by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spread at an “alarming rate” during the pandemic, the C.D.C. said on Monday.The fungus, called Candida auris, preys primarily on older people with weakened immune systems and is particularly dangerous because it resists treatment by common antifungal medications. C. auris was first reported in the United States in 2016, showing up most notably in New York and Illinois, where public health officials hoped they could contain it by rigorous screening and infection control in long-term care facilities and nursing homes.
But over the course of 2021, state and local health departments around the country reported 1,474 clinical cases, more than a 200 percent increase over 476 cases in 2019.
The surge represents a “dramatic increase” in case load and transmission of C. auris, according to a research paper published Monday in the Annals of Medicine and compiled by researchers at the C.D.C. The fungus is now in half the states, many with just a handful of cases, but with higher concentrations in California, Nevada, Texas and Florida.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/health/candida-auris-us-fungus.html
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