Opinion: The window is closing to stop deadly drug-resistant fungi like Candida auris
Look to tulip production in the Netherlands for a cautionary tale on the overuse of antifungals in agriculture.
Just one week after the season finale of the HBO show “The Last of Us,” about a zombie apocalypse caused by a fungal infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning about Candida auris spreading in U.S. health care facilities. Twenty-seven states and Washington, D.C. have reported cases of the deadly fungal infection that often doesn’t respond to common antifungal drugs, with southern Nevada emerging as a hotspot of infections. Clinical cases have risen each year since it was first publicly reported in 2016, with 2,377 reported in 2022, and the CDC notes that based on limited information, 30–60% of those infected with C. auris have died. C. auris infects people whose immune systems are already weakened due to other health issues. This makes it difficult to determine the precise number of deaths specifically attributable to C. auris itself.
The C. auris outbreak is alarming. But even scarier is the issue it highlights: We’re not taking appropriate steps to monitor, track, and stop fungal pathogens that can infect people and resist current treatments.
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