Superbug fungus cases rose dramatically during pandemic

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MIKE STOBBE 20 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. cases of a dangerous fungus tripled over just three years, and more than half of states have now reported it, according to a new study.

The COVID-19 pandemic likely drove part of the increase, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in the paper published Monday by Annals of Internal Medicine. Hospital workers were strained by coronavirus patients, and that likely shifted their focus away from disinfecting some other kinds of germs, they said.

The fungus, Candida auris, is a form of yeast that is usually not harmful to healthy people but can be a deadly risk to fragile hospital and nursing home patients. It spreads easily and can infect wounds, ears and the bloodstream. Some strains are so-called superbugs that are resistant to all three classes of antibiotic drugs used to treat fungal infections.

It was first identified in Japan in 2009 and has been seen in more and more countries. The first U.S. case occurred in 2013, but it was not reported until 2016. That year, U.S. health officials reported 53 cases.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/candida-auris-fungus-superbug-bd20721b4233afd5e3c41432db54ea5f?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_05

[TeamProg]

1. Right on schedule. nt

[Ray Bruns]

2. It's "The Last of Us" happening in real time. PANIC NOW!

Where’s Pedro Pascal when you need him?

https://giphy.com/gifs/text-street-popkey-1EghTrigJJhq8

[Warpy]

3. Hardly. Healthy people readily fight this bug off

The reason cases jumped is the number of Covid patients being maintained on ventilators beyond all hope of recovery. Other groups it attacks are those with compromised immune systems like people with advanced HIV and those on chemotherapy for cancer. It's just one of a list of opportunistic fungi that try to finish us off when we're down. It's scary because none of our present drugs work on it.

It's not the end of life as we know it, but it's an incredible challenge for hospitals because a lot of the surface disinfectants they use don't work on it, either. That means a lot more places are going to have to invest in UV-C terminal cleaning when a patient with it has occupied a room in a hospital or clinic.

The estimated fatality rate in severely compromised patietnts is 30%-70%, depending on the population.

Yes, I've been following this one.

[NickB79]

5. Candida infections were already increasing before COVID appeared though

As it was already developing resistance to our few antifungal drugs before 2020.

But yeah, the pool of potential hosts exploded with COVID patients on vents.

[Traildogbob]

4. What is it

They call the mushroom heads, clackers?
Maybe trump’s mushroom cap will match his little pee pee one. I think Stormy needs tested ASAP. She had her mouth on one 🍄. She may be the origin of the jump from mushroom to human.

[Farmer-Rick]

6. In The Last of Us they are called Clickers

They are the ones who have been infected for a year or more and can't see, so they use echo location. Hence the clicking.

Yummy mushroom people. It gives Soylent Green a new meaning. Having a human sized mushroom sounds so very delicious.

[Traildogbob]

7. Clickers, right!

I love the series. The HBO “Making of The Last of Us” is really good. I had no idea this is all from a video games, and the Gamers demanded authenticity of characters, AND Clickers. Very interesting story line.