Candida auris
Candida auris is a type of yeast infection (yeasts are microscopic fungi) only discovered in 2009, though it’s likely to have existed in the wild much longer than that. Many people can carry the fungus without trouble, but it can quickly spread and become a deadly blood infection in people who are already sick, which is why it’s a serious threat in hospitals and other health care settings. The hardy microbe is difficult to eliminate from the body once it sets up shop, and it can easily colonize surfaces inside a patient’s room, requiring meticulous disinfection.
It wasn’t long after doctors first discovered C. auris that they began to see cases that were resistant to one or more common antifungal drugs. But the situation is getting worse. Not only is the fungus spreading to more parts of the U.S. and the world, but in 2021 the U.S. reported its first locally transmitted cases resistant to all known classes of antifungals.
