Superbug Virus

A deadly 'superbug' fungus that is hard to spot and harder to kill is slowly infiltrating U.S. Hospitals, health experts say. Candida auris  enters the bloodstream, spreads throughout the body.

A deadly 'superbug' fungus that is hard to spot and harder to kill is slowly infiltrating U.S. hospitals, health experts say.

Candida auris enters the bloodstream, spreads throughout the body and causes a variety of infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns. More than 60 cases have been identified in the U.S., all but a few of them in New York and New Jersey. The CDC has alerted hospitals and other health care facilities across the nation to watch out for the relatively new fungus.

The fungus can be passed between people or through the environment from such things as hospital equipment, says Dr. Tom Chiller, chief of the CDC’s Mycotic (fungal) Diseases Branch.

Some strands of the fungus found in other countries have been resistant to the three classes of anti-fungal medicine, he said.

'We are dealing with an organism we don’t have drugs to treat. That is what worries us,' Chiller told USA TODAY. 'What we have seen (in the U.S. so far) has been treatable. We are trying to aggressively contain it, stop it and kill it.'

The CDC says patients in the intensive care unit for a long time and patients who have a catheter placed in a large vein appear to be among those facing the highest risk of infection. The fungus has caused bloodstream, wound and ear infections. It also has been found in respiratory and urine specimens, but it is unclear if it causes lung or bladder infections.

The CDC issued a report six months ago saying the fungus had been found in 13 people and was linked to four hospital patient deaths in the U.S.

'Candida auris can kill and is probably is killing,' Chiller says. 'We are seeing a 30% death rate, but these are often very sick people with a lot of medical problems when they get it. It's hard to determine how much of (the death toll) is really related to the fungus.'

Read more:

The fungus was first identified in Japan in 2009 and has been found in several countries since then, the CDC says. CDC researchers recently went to Colombia to survey an outbreak in three cities — and, alarmingly, found the fungus on the skin of patients and nurses who had been treated with standard anti-fungal medications.

Chiller says most U.S. cases have been found in New York and New Jersey, probably because the region has a dense population, a lot of travelers and a lot of medical professionals. Also, the fungus is more apt to be recognized there. The New York Department of Health said in a statement that it has taken 'aggressive actions' to test for and detect the microbe.

At first glance, Destruction Derby Arenas seems like it's got all the makings of a great game. Tons of unlockable cars and drivers, plenty of over-the-top arenas, and a weird mix of smashing and racing sounds pretty awesome. Unfortunately, once you start digging into this title, you bottom out pretty quickly. Destruction derby arenas. Destruction Derby Arenas puts gamers behind the wheel of a supercharged wrecking ball of American muscle, and turns loose up to 20 competing garage gladiators online. Rock n’ Roll and Gasoline will fuel the snarling V8’s of these turbocharged monsters in this winner take all smashfest for the.

The CDC notes that conventional lab techniques could lead to 'misidentification and inappropriate treatment,' making it difficult to control the spread of the fungus in health care settings.

'One of our major activities is to get the word out,' Chiller says. 'We are reaching out to health care communities, laboratories. But there may still be some gaps.'

Chiller says the CDC is concerned that the more resistant strains could emerge in the U.S. and become mainstream.

'Thankfully, in the U.S. right now it remains a very rare infection,' Chiller says. 'And we are on it.'

Superbugs are becoming increasingly more common, and are the results of the misuse of existing antibiotics. When a person does not use an antibiotic correctly as prescribed (such as taking antibiotics for viral infections or not finishing all of the medicine), the bacterial infection is not completely destroyed. Whatever bacteria remains is a strain that has evolved to survive the antibiotic that was used. The more often someone uses an antibiotic, the more susceptible they become to infection with a superbug. While many superbugs can be eventually treated successfully, as the prevalence of these hardy bacteria rises, the risk of dying due to antibiotic resistance is estimated to increase. Early in 2017, a Nevada woman died from an infection that was found to be resistant to 26 different antibiotics—all antibiotics available in the United States.

She had contracted the infection in an Indian hospital that she visited to treat a fractured leg but was hospitalized for the infection in the United States upon her return. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), which has been called the 'nightmare bacteria' by U.S. Health officials because it can kill up to 50 percent of people who it infects. The woman who contracted the superbug in India was infected with CRE. Acinetobacter baumannii, which occurs most often in intensive care units and other healthcare environments with patients who are very sick. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is spread via contaminated medical equipment that is not cleaned properly or via the hands of healthcare workers.