A Drug-Resistant 'Superbug' Fungus Infected 7,000 Americans in 2025 (newsweek.com)
- Reference: 0180513159
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/01/04/1732257/a-drug-resistant-superbug-fungus-infected-7000-americans-in-2025
- Source link: https://www.newsweek.com/superbug-fungus-candida-auris-threat-country-11293611
> Candida auris , a type of invasive yeast that can cause deadly infections in people with weakened immune systems, has infected at least 7,000 people [in 2025] across 27 U.S. states, according to [2]data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The fungus, which can spread easily in healthcare settings such as hospitals and nursing homes, is gaining virulence and spreading at an "alarming" rate, the CDC says. Some strains of the fungus are particularly troublesome — and even considered a superbug — because they're resistant to all types of antibiotics used to treat fungal infections, [3] The Hill reports .
>
> While healthy people may be able to fight off the infection on their own, the fungus can be deadly, especially in healthcare settings, where it can quickly spread amongst a vulnerable population. "If you get infected with this pathogen that's resistant to any treatment, there's no treatment we can give you to help combat it. You're all on your own," Melissa Nolan, an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of South Carolina, [4]told Nexstar ...
>
> A [5]recent study found that Candida auris is gaining virulence and spreading rapidly , not just in the U.S., but also globally. Candida auris has already been found in at least 61 countries on six continents.
Some [6]context from Newsweek :
> There are strategies available to combat Candida auris infection. While the superbug can develop ways to evade the immune response, vaccination and treatment strategies are possible, but researchers would like them to be strengthened. Four classes of antifungal drugs are currently available, with varying degrees of efficacy, and three new drugs are currently in trials or at newly approved stages
[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/candida-auris-deadly-superbug-fungus-b2893703.html
[2] https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/251234
[3] https://thehill.com/homenews/5666816-superbug-hits-27-states-heres-where-the-deadly-fungus-is-spreading/
[4] https://ktla.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/what-makes-candida-auris-so-dangerous/
[5] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/candida-auris-drug-resistant-infectious-spread-b2891915.html
[6] https://www.newsweek.com/superbug-fungus-candida-auris-threat-country-11293611
Something not right (Score:2)
"The fungus, which can spread easily in healthcare settings such as hospitals and nursing homes" - huh? Settings like these are supposed to be MUCH cleaner and germ free than, say, a typical household. Why can fungus spread easily in these environments that are supposed to be as close as possible to sterile?
Re:Something not right (Score:4, Insightful)
There's a number of reasons, but the primary one would be that we've concentrated the immune compromised there. There's just more people with weaker immune systems available for exposure.
Plus, by sterilizing everything, a bug that can survive said sterilization better will have essentially an open field to propagate in.
In addition, such environments tend to be less sterile than promised.
Re: (Score:2)
> Why can fungus spread easily in these environments that are supposed to be as close as possible to sterile?
It is because it's so clean.
I don't worry about something like that spreading around at home because what lingers here would eat that fungus for breakfast.
Or make pasta ai fungi from it and eat it for dinner.
Re: (Score:2)
Hospitals and doctor's offices are where the sick often congregate. Plenty of people spread diseases to others in waiting rooms etc. Doctors/nurses/etc. do their best to keep these areas clean and sterile, but that's often not possible, especially when certain pathogens (such as c. auris) are resistant to measures that can normally sterilize surfaces.
C. auris is particularly hardy:
[1]https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/a... [nih.gov]
I've read some articles in the past that this fungus survives UV exposure, heating/cooling, a
[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10590192/
Re: (Score:2)
Very nice link. Well, scary.
One tidbit, "Apart from being a skin pathogen, C. auris colonizes the surfaces of medical devices. Medical devices are hospital tools and components often utilized for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases associated with human skin."
Pretty bad when the fungus likes medical equip. that is used to diagnose people.
Re: (Score:2)
Yup. I can't link it because I don't have time to find the supporting article(s), but I read that c.auris can survive in a contaminated hospital room for weeks through multiple bleachings/peroxide cleanings, UV exposures, etc. AND as the link I did post indicated, it gets all over catheters and other bits and bobs. And in bedding, hospital gowns, basically everything. It's awful for people susceptible to it, and "just another yeast" to everyone else.
Fortunately it does seem that we're slowly beginning t
Re: (Score:2)
Hospitals and nursing homes are places where sick or frail people are concentrated, thus creating an environment in which community-acquired infections spread very easily and rapidly. Standard disinfection procedures can only go so far; we can see this by comparing it to, say, isolation protocols to prevent exposure to highly infectious BSL-4 pathogens such as ebolavirus. In such cases, healthcare workers must wear a positive pressure personnel suit, and building construction and ventilation must be desig
Re: (Score:2)
Fungal spores are generally resistant to typical cleaning solutions that have alcohol and/or chlorine. This one in particular seems to have a list of ones known to work:
[1]https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-... [epa.gov]
But what about the bedsheets and the chair cushions in the waiting room? Hmm....
[1] https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/epas-registered-antimicrobial-products-effective-against-candida-auris-list
Re: (Score:2)
Wow, thanks for the replies. Scary stuff!
Uh oh (Score:1)
Lock down every one and put a cork in our ass
Umm... (Score:3)
> because they're resistant to all types of antibiotics used to treat fungal infections,
Yeah...you're not supposed to use antibiotics for that, you're supposed to use antifungals.
Re: (Score:3)
>> because they're resistant to all types of antibiotics used to treat fungal infections,
> Yeah...you're not supposed to use antibiotics for that, you're supposed to use antifungals.
In the same way you're supposed to use an anti-viral for a virus rather than an anti-parasitic.
Re: (Score:2)
>>> because they're resistant to all types of antibiotics used to treat fungal infections,
>> Yeah...you're not supposed to use antibiotics for that, you're supposed to use antifungals.
> In the same way you're supposed to use an anti-viral for a virus rather than an anti-parasitic.
I see what you did there, though I'm guessing some of U.S. electorate, and one HHS Secretary, won't. Nicely done. :-)
Fungal infections are going to get more common (Score:3)
Expect fungal infections in general to become more common as global warming pushes fungi to adapt to temperatures closer to human body temperature:
[1]https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/a... [nih.gov]
[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11034633/
Just take some ivermectin (Score:2)
Or maybe some colloidal silver. It's certainly okay that we have cut billions of dollars to funding scientific research because there's nothing homeopathy can't cure right?
I like the fact that our current country situation is so bad that drug resistant super bacteria is relatively low on the list of problems.
Re: (Score:2)
> Or maybe some colloidal silver. It's certainly okay that we have cut billions of dollars to funding scientific research because there's nothing homeopathy can't cure right?
Colloidal silver is almost certainly useless when taken orally, but don't knock silver in general. It is used in wound dressings for a reason. [1]Candida auris [nih.gov] is one of those reasons. From the article:
> The antifungal susceptibility testing of silver nanoparticles under planktonic conditions of C. auris isolates showed significant antimicrobial activity against all C. auris isolates, the MIC of AgNPs was <6.25 g/mL, and the MFC was 12.5 g/mL for all isolates, except one isolate was 6.25 g/mL.
[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9315473/
CDC has not updated page (Score:2)
If you go here:
[1]https://www.cdc.gov/candida-au... [cdc.gov]
You will see the CDC data... from 2023.
The current Administration (Trump / RFK Jr) has not updated the data for 2024 yet. It's 2026, they had a year. It should take months.
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/candida-auris/index.html
I had this during Covid (Score:2)
I don't know how I contracted it, but I had it on my scalp and down the left side of my face. A shampoo with 2% ketoconazole finally got rid of it after many weeks.
the last of us (Score:1)
sounds like there is nothing to be done for this one. if it is resistant to everything how can we combat it?
Re: (Score:2)
We don't combat it, we die. That's why epidemiologists have been warning about the overuse of anti-biotics for decades.
Re: the last of us (Score:2)
Kinda sorta warning and no solutions.
The only solution for any of the major trade blocks (EU/China/US) is to first ban antifungals in agriculture, then to impose escalating tariffs and finally travel bans on any trading partners not doing likewise.
If you isolate yourself from the commons, you don't suffer the tragedy of the commons. In a good little globalist economy, not hurrying along resistance harms your economy.
Re: (Score:3)
> We don't combat it, we die. That's why epidemiologists have been warning about the overuse of anti-biotics for decades.
Antibiotics do nothing against fungus.
Re: (Score:2)
> We don't combat it, we die. That's why epidemiologists have been warning about the overuse of anti-biotics for decades.
That's one reason I quit in Brownsville, Texas. These dumbshits would run across to Matamoros for a virus, and then come in four days later because "it isn't working." Then I found out they were using "Amoxicina" for the flu or something. Lately, we have some asshole on Fox News advertising a "emergency urgent care kit" or some nonsense like that. He prefixes it by talking about the cold and flu season. Of course, not one of the medications in his kit actually do anything about the cold or flu, and some ar
Re: (Score:2)
> sounds like there is nothing to be done for this one. if it is resistant to everything how can we combat it?
We can't. Best we can hope for is a new superhero origin story based on this unstoppable fungus. :-)
Seems more like a DC thing than Marvel... Anyone got a good name for him/her/it?