CDC reports first cases of drug-resistant fungal infection

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that more than a dozen people have been diagnosed with a drug-resistant fungal infection.

A spokesperson for the federal agency told reporters that at least 13 people in various parts of the nation became ill from Candida Auris, a drug-resistant fungal infection that can sometimes become fatal.

The organism that causes the deadly infection is difficult to identify using conventional laboratory methods. Health experts have warned that there is a high likelihood that Candida Auris can cause outbreaks in healthcare facilities across the United States.

CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a statement, “We need to act now to better understand, contain and stop the spread of this drug-resistant fungus. This is an emerging threat, and we need to protect vulnerable patients and others.”

It is worth-mentioning here that the diagnosis of the 13 people with Candida Auris marked the first cases of a drug-resistant fungal infection in the nation.

Seven of the thirteen Candida Auris cases occurred between May 2013 and August 2016 in New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland and New York. Four of those seven infected patients died. However, it isn’t yet clear if Candida Auris was solely responsible for those deaths.