This Fungus Is Spreading Rapidly in Hospitals
Clip: Season 50 | 3m 24sVideo has Closed Captions
Cases of Candida auris are increasing every year.
Most fungi can’t grow and reproduce in the human body because it’s too warm. But experts say they’re evolving.
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This Fungus Is Spreading Rapidly in Hospitals
Clip: Season 50 | 3m 24sVideo has Closed Captions
Most fungi can’t grow and reproduce in the human body because it’s too warm. But experts say they’re evolving.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Narrator] Cases of a deadly fungal infection are increasing, and this might be caused by climate change.
That may sound like the plot of "The Last of Us," but fortunately this fungus called Candida auris, is not going to hijack your body and turn you into a zombie.
It is unusual, though.
Until now, human bodies have been too warm for most fungi to grow and reproduce, but experts think the fungi have evolved and are becoming more of a threat.
- The fungi in the environment are being exposed to climate change and as those fungi begin to adapt to higher temperatures, we're gonna lose the protection.
- [Narrator] Cases of Candida auris have been reported in over 28 states and are rapidly increasing year over year.
- Where there was a 44% increase in 2019, there was a 95% increase in 2021.
That's what makes it concerning.
- [Narrator] The fungus can lead to severe infection and can infect any body part, including the blood.
It can survive on the skin and shed into the environment and contaminate surfaces.
- This increase didn't just happen in areas where they've had C. auris, but it also occurred in areas that previously didn't have any transmission or areas that had not had any prior cases.
- [Narrator] It's not just climate change fungi are adapting to.
- Candida auris is just one of many organisms that's displaying increasing antimicrobial resistance.
- [Narrator] Antimicrobial resistance is when organisms like bacteria and fungi build a tolerance to drugs that in the previous years, could have worked as treatment.
- Mutations develop in their genetic makeup that make it so the drugs no longer work.
- [Narrator] Candida auris is challenging to treat because it's resistant to one of the three common antifungal treatments.
One class of drugs called echinocandins has been the most effective in treating the fungus, although not in every case, and a small percentage of Candida auris samples have been found to be resistant to that too.
- We have not seen a lot of resistance to echinocandins yet, so it's considered the first line treatment for infections, but we are seeing more cases that have echinocandin resistance or resistance to all three main classes.
- [Narrator] Candida auris is so far mostly contained to healthcare settings, in elderly patients, people with weakened immune systems, and patients that require invasive medical devices like catheters and breathing tubes.
- This is really not a problem for the general public.
This is really a problem for people who are in the hospital for long periods of time, in and out of the hospital, very sick, often in the ICU with devices.
- [Narrator] But could this spread outside of healthcare facilities?
- I think the concern, and I emphasize that it's not happening today, is whether this kind of infection can spill out into the community.
I don't know if that's gonna happen, but the organism is changing rapidly and if that was to happen, then we would have a much bigger problem than we have today.
- We don't want people to think that spread is inevitable and be hopeless.
We want healthcare providers and healthcare facilities to stay motivated and realize that there's a lot that can be done to prevent spread.
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