Candida auris fungas on the rise

Editor's Note

The Centers for Diseas Control and Prevention issued an alert that infections from the fungus Candida auris are increasing, according to a March 23 report from Michigan Medicine.

Highlights from the report include:

• Patients in nursing facilities who have ventilator-associated infections are at increased risk, and ventilators have been in heavy use because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Patients in hospitals who have catheters and IVs also have an increased risk of introducing the fungus to the bloodstream.
• C auris is not a threat to healthy individuals, but they may carry it and transmit it to a medically vulnerable person. It is very hard to get off the skin. It also appears to be resistant to quaternary ammonium cleaners used in hospitals.
• The threat from C auris is similar to the threat from MRSA, but less is known about fungal infections than bacterial infections.