(NEXSTAR) – Researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Florida Health Department are getting a better idea of what leads to clinical cases of Candida auris, a dangerous and drug-resistant fungus that has been rapidly multiplying.
In a new study published this month, the researchers looked at patients who came in contact with the fungus between 2019 and 2023, and identified seven risk factors for infection. They found serious cases were more likely to happen when a patient was reliant on tube feeding, confined to their bed or was unable to be transferred to a different location.
Additionally, people with five or more co-morbid conditions, four or more invasive devices (such as a catheter or an IV) or three or more recent medical procedures were also at a higher risk of developing a Candida auris infection.
Age is another risk factor, according to a review of the research by Becker’s Hospital Review. People ages 50 to 64 were found to be more vulnerable.
The new research is consistent with what we’ve learned about Candida auris since it was first detected in the U.S. in 2016. Since then, the number of cases have continued to rise, tripling in just a few months earlier this year.
The CDC has considered the fungus “an urgent antimicrobial resistance threat” because it has developed ways to defeat the drugs that are designed to kill it.
“If you get infected with this pathogen that’s resistant to any treatment, there’s no treatment we can give you to help combat it. You’re all on your own,” Melissa Nolan, an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of South Carolina, told Nexstar.
People with a healthy immune system may be able to fight off infection on their own, but the fungus mainly spreads in health care settings, where people are sick and vulnerable.
The fungus can survive on surfaces, like countertops, doorknobs, or even people’s skin, for a long time before spreading to vulnerable patients. People with catheters, breathing tubes, feeding tubes and PICC lines are at the highest risk because the pathogen can enter the body through these types of devices.
A study published in July, which looked at patients with Candida auris primarily in Nevada and Florida, found more than half of patients required admission to the intensive care unit and more than one-third needed mechanical ventilation. More than half of patients, whose average age was between 60 and 64, also needed a blood transfusion.
In the past, the CDC estimated that “based on information from a limited number of patients, 30–60% of people with C. auris infections have died. However, many of these people had other serious illnesses that also increased their risk of death.”
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