CDC: Deadly Fungus Is Spreading Rapidly

[RAMROD 117,040]

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.

Nearly half of patients who contract C. auris die within 90 days, according to the C.D.C. But Dr. Meghan Lyman, a medical officer in the mycotic diseases branch of the C.D.C., said that the agency did not have a good sense of how many deaths to attribute directly to the fungus. The reason is that people who become infected are also dealing with multiple other health challenges, so C. auris can be both a cause of death or something that, along with other poor-health factors, hastens it.

C. auris is not a particular threat to young healthy people, whose immune systems can fight it off, but can be transported on skin and clothing. Those who contract it can experience typical infection symptoms, like fever and chills that can intensify absent treatment. The fungus commonly strikes older patients, particularly those who have many visits or prolonged visits to health care facilities, where it can be hard to clean or eradicate.

The challenge in treating C. auris stems from the fact that it can be resistant to antifungal medications. During 2020, the research paper found, 86 percent of the germ samples tested by the C.D.C.’s Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Network were resistant to a class of drugs known as Azoles.

More concerning to health officials is that 1.2 percent of C. auris samples were resistant that year to a frontline treatment class of drugs called echinocandins. If resistance to echinocandins becomes more common as the germ evolves, C. auris could become extremely difficult, if not impossible, to treat, health officials said.

But over the course of 2021, state and local health departments around the country reported 1,474 clinical cases, about a 200 percent increase from the nearly 500 cases in 2019.

The surge represents a “dramatic increase” in caseload and transmission of C. auris, according to a research paper published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine and compiled by researchers at the C.D.C. The fungus is now in half the 50 states, many with just a handful of cases, but with higher concentrations in California, Nevada, Texas and Florida.

 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/health/candida-auris-us-fungus.html

 

Y'all ready for The Last Of Us except in real life?

[badfaith 5,716]

THE LAST OF US HONEEEY 

[Guest]

[tomsches 17,550]

I mean we’re in 2023 so I’m not even surprised or shocked or anything 

[Pennywise 36,080]

It says it mostly gets old people and I'm okay with that 

[RAMROD 117,040]

2 minutes ago, Pennywise said:

It says it mostly gets old people and I'm okay with that 

 

 

[Flapjack 1,264]

If it's only transmitted from physical contact, I guess I'm safe. 

[Red 99,108]

Deadly funguses (and other microbes) arise everyday, y'all just paying attention cause of Last of Us

 

[Squidward T 2,470]

12 hours ago, Pennywise said:

It says it mostly gets old people and I'm okay with that 

Reported

[ProfessionalClown 10,647]

13 hours ago, badfaith said:

THE LAST OF US HONEEEY 

Imma live my Ellie fantasy 

[ALGAYDO 35,103]

I was gonna post a gif of Ellie from The Last Of Us saying “****!!” but the stuff that come up was straight up traumatizing. After seeing that, I think the human race deserves to die off 

[My Name Isnt Alice 3,737]

13 hours ago, RAMROD said:

But over the course of 2021, state and local health departments around the country reported 1,474 clinical cases, about a 200 percent increase from the nearly 500 cases in 2019.

 

Unless there are other sophisticated methods and implicit health standards, Isn't this such a small sample over time? 

It's like saying: "Girl scouts sold 150 cookies in 2021, a whopping 200% increase from nearly 50 cookies in 2019. The cookie industry is shaking"

[Lady Palutena 3,147]

What kind of Grim Grotto scenario???

[JanStan 574]

13 hours ago, Flapjack said:

If it's only transmitted from physical contact, I guess I'm safe. 

Opposite for me cause I’m a heaux 

[Flippy 14,262]

 no, omg