It's likely that you had no idea that a new, deadly fungus has made it's way to Louisiana.

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And, it's just as likely that this is just the first of many times you will hear the name of Candida Auris in the coming months.

According to an article from kplctv.com, it is "a type of yeast that can cause severe illnesses or even land you in the hospital if you have underlying health issues."

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Apparently Candida Auris has been in the United States for a bit, but has now surfaced in the Bayou State.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, says Candida Auris is a real killer and that thirty to sixty percent of those infected with the fungus have died, therefore the CDC has identified it as a “serious global health threat”.

Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images
Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images
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In their research on Candida Auris, the CDC says they are especially concerned of this new fungus for three reasons:

  1. It is often multidrug-resistant, meaning that it is resistant to multiple antifungal drugs commonly used to treat Candida infections. Some strains are resistant to all three available classes of antifungals.
  2. It is difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods, and it can be misidentified in labs without specific technology. Misidentification may lead to inappropriate management.
  3. It has caused outbreaks in healthcare settings. For this reason, it is important to quickly identify C. auris in a hospitalized patient so that healthcare facilities can take special precautions to stop its spread.

CDC goes on to answer a number of questions that help us to better understand just what we're dealing with here.

What Are The Symptoms Of A Candida Auris Infection?

  • Symptoms may not be noticeable, because patients with C. auris infection are often already sick in the hospital with another serious illness or condition.
  • Symptoms of C. auris infection depend on the part of the body affected. C. auris can cause many different types of infection, such as bloodstream infection, wound infection, and ear infection.
  • Because symptoms can vary greatly, a laboratory test is needed to determine whether a patient has a C. auris infection.

Who Is Most Likely To Get A Candida Auris Infection?

  • C. auris mainly affects patients who already have many medical problems.
  • It often affects people who have had frequent hospital stays or live in nursing homes.
  • C. auris is more likely to affect patients who have weakened immune systems from conditions such as blood cancers or diabetes, receive lots of antibiotics, or have devices like tubes going into their body (for example, breathing tubes, feeding tubes, catheters in a vein, or bladder catheters).
  • Healthy people usually don’t get C. auris infections.

Are Candida Auris Infections Treatable?

  • Most C. auris infections are treatable with a class of antifungal medications called echinocandins.
  • Some C. auris infections have been resistant to all three main classes of antifungal medications, making them difficult to treat. In this situation, multiple antifungal medications at high doses may be needed to treat the infection.

To learn more about Candida Auris infections, just go to CDC.gov

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