Health officials in the United States have reported 13 infections with C. auris, a “superbug” strain of yeast that survives all three major classes of anti-fungal medications.

Infections have only been reported in hospitalized patients who were already very sick. In some countries, 50% of patients died after developing bloodstream infections with C. auris.

The problem is that C. auris is hard to diagnose. It is easily mistaken for common yeasts. Conclusive diagnosis requires sequencing its DNA or using other highly-specialized molecular laboratory tests.

Infected patients remain colonized and contagious for months. C. auris has been found on everything from bed-rails to windowsills in hospital rooms of patients who were sick.

People who develop C. auris infections are usually very sick from other medical conditions, so it is hard to tell which symptoms are caused by C. auris or the underlying disease.

However, fever and chills that do not go away after anti-fungal treatment are the most common symptoms. Other symptoms depend on where it spreads. These infections are known as candidemia or invasive candidiasis.

C. auris was first discovered in 2009 from a patient in Japan with an ear infection. It is also known to cause bloodstream infections and wound infections. C. auris has been found on the skin, lungs, bladder, and rectum.

It is an emerging global threat. Since 2009, C. auris infections have been reported in Columbia, India, Israel, Kenya, Kuwait, Pakistan, South Africa, South Korea, Venezuela, and the United Kingdom.

In the United States, 13 infections were reported between May 2013 and August 2016. Four of those patients died and C. auris was found in their blood, but it is not clear if it caused their deaths. The first seven cases were described in a report issued by the CDC on November 4.

Source: “Symptoms of Invasive Candidiasis” — CDC

See Also: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) November 4, 2016, CDC.

Posted by Elizabeth Bradley

Lifelong consumer advocate. Pop culture nerd. Grammar evangelist. Wannabe organizer. Travel addict. Zombie fan.

One Comment

  1. I am from NYC, and I recently had itching in ears. I had these symptoms this October, 2016. Also I had white tong and throat real soar. Ah, also one symptom was bloodshot eyes. I did go to free clinic but they saw nothing in my ears, dismissed white tong, and thought that soar throat (also with white patches on it) might be allergies. I don’t have health insurance, so I resort to OTC or natural methods. I did treat myself the night prior to visit to the clinic with lufenuron, so my symptoms were alleviated during examination. I want to tell here in this comment which methods I used as it appears I helped myself. I suspected what I have was fungal in nature. OK, so I took lufenuron powder mixed into a meal of porridge and oil (its supposed to be consumed this way). It is marketed for pets, but works as antifungal with no side effects for humans too). That helps for any overall blood infections. There are websites where you can buy pure lufenuron but they market it for pets and clandestinely describe how it also works on gorillas, and thus humans. But that’s not all. For ears I came up with the following ad-hoc method. (I did try hydrogen peroxide 3%, but felt it was ineffective). I bought lugol’s iodine on amazon. But if you inject it pure into aching ear, it will be VEERY painful, though effective. So I mixed some of lugol’s with some carrier oil. I used rosehips oil, till mixture is light brown color. This way almost no pain, and iodine still works. You can also add to that same carrier oil some pure essential oils that are antifungal, such as frankincense, lavender, whatever you can get. Advantage of using oil as carrier into ear is that you don’t have to worry to spill it out. A few drops of this oil solution into ear, lay on a side, and let it work it’s way in and being absorbed. No need to turn ad let any liquid out. Don’t know if it was this candida auris, but I did have something serious and fungal in nature. And I beat it, all with cheap health products. I am a woman, 48. Hope this comment helps someone fight fungal infections. You don’t always have to use pharmaceuticals, especially if they become ineffective – take matters into your own hands with OTC and natural treatments! ref: owndoc.com

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