Deadly, drug-resistant fungus spreading at an ‘alarming rate,’ CDC warns

A deadly strain of fungus is spreading at "an alarming rate" and poses a particular threat to the medically fragile due to its resistance to antifungal medications, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned.

A type of yeast called Candida auris, or C. auris, has spread from just four states reporting cases in 2016 to more than half the country reporting cases by Dec. 31, 2022, per CDC data. The agency does not see C. auris as a threat to healthy people, but warned about its increasing threat in a report on March 20 because it's resistant to several antifungal medications.

The fungus can cause serious illness and death among people who are already sick and using medical devices like ventilators or intravenous therapy at health care facilities or intensive care units.

NBC News senior medical correspondent Dr. John Torres gave perspective on the CDC's report on March 21 on TODAY.

"First and foremost, as far as how concerned, this is not 'The Last of Us' type of apocalypse," he said in reference to the HBO hit about a fungus that wipes out much of civilization.

"This is not going to take over the globe and cause Armageddon throughout the world, but it is something that definitely needs to be looked into because it has increased since 2016 many, many fold and has spread throughout the country."

The number of drug-resistant cases of C. auris tripled in 2021, according to the CDC.

"The problem is it's resistant to common antifungal drugs, and it seems to be getting more and more resistant," Torres said. "It's difficult to identify to begin with because it's inside the body and the symptoms mimic a lot of other (infections)."

C. auris is identified by testing blood and other bodily fluids but can be harder to contain because it's difficult to distinguish from other yeasts, leading to misdiagnosis, the CDC said.

The fungus has been reported in more than 30 countries and was first detected in the U.S. in 2016. There have been a total of 3,270 clinical cases (where an infection is present) and 7,413 screening cases (where the fungus is present but not causing an infection) in the U.S. from 2016 to Dec. 31, 2021, the CDC said.

About 30% to 60% of people with C. auris infections have died according to "information from a limited number of patients," the CDC said. Many of them also had other serious illnesses that increased their risk of death, the agency said.

"It's causing outbreaks in health care facilities, particularly long-term care facilities," Torres said. "If somebody's on a ventilator or they have long-term IV lines in them, that's how it can get into the body. Their immune systems aren't that strong."

The fungus can be spread from interactions between people and contaminated surfaces, and it has caused bloodstream infections, wound infections and ear infections, according to the CDC.

"As far as how concerned we should be overall, this is one of those things that seems to be spreading because, we think, of global warming," Torres said. "The fungus usually doesn't get in our bodies because it can't stand the warm temperatures, but they think fungi in general are adapting to warmer temperatures because of global warming, (and) they're going to be able to get into our bodies more and more often."

Torres advised for any loved ones of people in health care facilities to talk to the facilities about their safety protocols for preventing the spread of the fungus. He also advised taking a simple precaution when in contact with anyone in a type of setting like a health care facility or intensive care unit.

"Wash your own hands, especially if you're going to visit your loved ones, because it can be transmitted that way so you want to be very, very careful," he said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com