Emerging Fungal Infection Spreading At Alarming Rate: See Rise In NY

NEW YORK — A drug-resistant, potentially deadly fungus has spread at a troubling rate in U.S. health care facilities, including some in New York, 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. auris, “spread at an alarming rate” from 2020 to 2021. Equally troubling: the number of cases resistant to a commonly prescribed antifungal medicine more than tripled, the agency said in a news release Monday.

According to the CDC, C. auris is an "emerging fungus that presents a serious global health threat."

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 326 clinical cases of C. auris were reported in New York in 2022, the most recent 12 months for which data is available.

• 2013-2016: 31 cases
• 2017: 99 cases
• 2018: 158 cases
• 2019: 178 cases
• 2020: 250 cases
• 2021: 283 cases
• 2022: 326 cases

Previous coverage:

• Deadly Fungus Lurks In Most NYC Hospitals, DOH Report Says

According to the state Department of Health, New York has had 1,454 clinical cases as of March 21. This group includes people who were sickened and had the fungus detected during their clinical care.

There were 1,870 people who were not sickened by the fungus and were tested specifically for it as part of a public health investigation.

Cases are primarily concentrated among hospital patients and nursing home residents in New York City, the health department said.

"The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is at the forefront of a national response to C. auris and is taking aggressive action to contain the spread of C. auris in hospitals and nursing homes," the agency writes on its website. "NYSDOH has provided guidance and assistance to hospitals and nursing homes to strengthen readiness, enhance surveillance, and implement effective infection prevention and control measures for C. auris."

When a case is confirmed or suspected, health officials recommend the patient be housed in a private room or grouped with other patients or residents also infected or colonized with the fungus.

Dr. Waleed Javaid, an epidemiologist and an infectious disease expert and director of infection prevention and control at Mount Sinai Downtown, called the CDC's findings "worrisome," but said the fungus probably won't be problematic for healthy people with no invasive medical devices.

"But we don’t want people who watched 'The Last of Us' to think we’re all going to die," Javaid told NBC News. "This is an infection that occurs in extremely ill individuals who are usually sick with a lot of other issues."

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