A deadly, drug-resistant fungus is stretching its muscles around the world. A study conducted this month found that the public health threat of Candida auris it has gradually increased over time.
The researchers reviewed the scientific literature on C. auriswhich was only discovered in 2009. Since then, fungal outbreaks have been reported around the world, including in the US.
“Taken together, these data underscore the need to develop novel antifungals with broad spectrum activity against human fungal infections, improve diagnostic testing, and develop vaccine-based approaches to treat high-risk patients,” the authors wrote in their paper, published in the journal Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.
A growing fungal disease
Fungal diseases are a growing threat to humanity. A study last year, for example, estimated that mold plays a role in nearly 4 million deaths a year, nearly double the number estimated a decade ago. But C. auris—first discovered inside the human ear by Japanese doctors in 2009—it may be one of the scariest fungi out there.
C. auris it can colonize our skin without causing problems. But sometimes, especially in people with weakened immune systems, it will cause a serious, widespread disease that quickly turns life-threatening. About one-third of people hospitalized with C. auris you will die from it, research has found, and the death rate from blood diseases can be as high as 50%.
One big reason why C. auris It is very dangerous, compared to other diseases Candida has a unique ability to resist many of the most common drugs used to treat fungal infections. There have even been recorded cases of pan-resistance C. auris: strains resistant to all four major classes of antifungals. To make matters worse, regular tests can’t always show up wrong C. auris like others Candida types, which may lead to delayed or incorrect treatment.
C. auris it’s still a rare source of fungal disease, but its global burden has apparently been increasing over time, the study’s researchers noted. It is now documented in over 50 countries. In the US, C. auris infection in hospitals and other health care facilities has been reported in at least 39 states, with more than 4,500 cases in 2023 (last year with available data).
At the most alarming level, C. auris it may be one of the first diseases to emerge as a direct result of climate change, researchers say. Evidence shows that the fungus began to make people sick more often after they got used to the rising temperature.–the same kind of temperatures found in our bodies.
Not all hope is lost
Although the outlook may seem bleak, there are still reasons for optimism.
Researchers report that scientists are working on new antifungals, and several promising drugs have recently reached the public or are still far from being developed. In 2023, the FDA approved Rezafungin to attack Candida diseases. There has also been some progress in vaccines, some of which can provide protection against a variety of fungal infections.
Researchers aren’t just highlighting what we’ve learned so far about C. auris; they hope to find things that will help us avoid these dangerous viruses.
“My laboratory investigates how fungal pathogens interact with the host, with the goal of discovering the molecular mechanisms that enable these organisms to cause disease,” study author Neeraj Chauhan, a professor at the Center for Discovery and Innovation at Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey, told Gizmodo. “The long-term goal of the research is to guide the development of new strategies to diagnose, prevent, and treat drug-resistant fungal infections.”
With any luck, scientists like Chauhan will discover the weakness of C. auris long before we end up mimicking fungal nightmare like conditions The Last of Us.
