A drug-resistant and deadly fungus has been spreading rapidly through U.S. health care facilities.
There is a deadly fungal infection spreading at an alarming rate through U.S. health care facilities, a new government study finds. The fungus, a type of yeast called Candida auris, or C. auris, can cause severe illness in people with weakened immune systems, and even affect healthy people.
For those who are immunosuppressed and have weaker immune systems, the effects of breathing in mold can be much worse and can potentially lead to death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The fungus can be found on the skin and throughout the body, and about a third of people who become sick with C. auris die, according to the CDC.
This can directly affect students at New York University, especially in the dorms where mold has been found in the past.
“It is really concerning having to worry about my health at all times because I have a higher risk of being affected by this new fungal infection,” said immunosuppressed NYU student Kelly Woods.
The people affected by the fungus increased by 21% in 2020, compared to 2019, and by 209% in 2021, with an increase to 4,041 in 2021 compared to 1,310 in 2020, according to researchers. C. auris has now been detected in more than half of U.S. states, the new study found.
“I have been staying in Lipton Hall, and the air conditioner has been releasing black particles, and [I] filed a work order request to fix the problem,” said NYU student Ella Netland. “They came quickly and explained that it was not something I needed to be worried about.”
“Mold is ubiquitous in the environment and does not generally pose a hazard to the healthy individuals. However, mold exposure can lead to or worsen allergies, and cause more serious health effects in sensitive populations such as immune compromised individuals,” NYU Director of Environmental Health and Safety Isabel Goldberg said in a statement.
The number of people diagnosed with infections, as well as the number of those who were found through screening to be carrying C. auris, has been rising at a rapid pace since it was first reported in the U.S., researchers from the CDC reported March 20.
Since November, at least 12 people have been infected with C. auris, with four “potentially associated deaths,” Mississippi’s epidemiologist, Paul Byers, said in an email.
It is important to quickly identify C. auris in a hospitalized patient so that healthcare facilities can take special precautions to stop its spread.
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