Health & Fitness
Emerging Fungal Infection Spreading At Alarming Rate: See MI Data
The fungus C. arius "spread at an alarming rate," but as troubling is that the number of drug-resistant cases tripled, the CDC said.
MICHIGAN — A drug-resistant, potentially deadly fungus has been spreading at a troubling rate in U.S. health care facilities, including some in Michigan, according to a new government study.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found the number of cases of the fungus Candida auris, or C. arius, “spread at an alarming rate” from 2020 to 2021. Equally troubling, the agency said in a news release Monday, is that the number of cases resistant to a commonly prescribed antifungal medicine more than tripled.
According to the CDC, C. arius is an "emerging fungus that presents a serious global health threat."
Find out what's happening in Across Michiganwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The fungus is found normally throughout the body and on the skin. It’s not a threat to healthy people, but for people with serious medical conditions that land them in the hospital or other health care facilities, infections can be deadly. C. auris kills about one-third of people who contract it.
CDC data shows 33 clinical cases of C. auris have been reported in Michigan in 2022, the most recent 12 months for which data is available. That’s up from just two cases reported in 2021.
Find out what's happening in Across Michiganwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"With a continued increase in C. auris cases across Southeast Michigan, receiving healthcare facilities should take steps to learn a patient’s C. auris status and be prepared to implement setting-appropriate precautions when needed for C. auris, as they would for other multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO)," Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
The CDC said poor general infection and control practices in health care facilities are a likely cause of the spread, though increased screening may also explain the increase. The agency said the timing of the increase is also likely tied to the strain put on health care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The rapid rise and geographic spread of cases is concerning and emphasizes the need for continuing surveillance, expanded lab capacity, quicker diagnostic tests, and adherence to proven infection prevention and control," CDC epidemiologist Dr. Meghan Lyman, the lead author of the paper, said in the news release.
The first U.S. case of C. auris was reported in 2016. Since then, 3,270 clinical cases in which an infection was present and 7,413 screening cases confirming the fungus but not an infection had been reported by Dec. 31, 2021.
Clinical cases have increased every year, but the most rapid rise was from 2020-2021, when 17 states identified their first-ever cases of C. auris, according to the CDC.
Nationwide, clinical cases rose from 476 in 2019 to 1,471 in 2021. Screening cases tripled from 2020 to 2021, for a total of 4,041. Screening is important to prevent spread by identifying patients carrying the fungus so that infection prevention controls can be used, according to the CDC.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.