SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the This-fungus-is-not-very-fun,-Gus. dept.
A lethal and drug-resistant fungal infection is beginning to creep into the United States. Healthcare facilities are at risk:
Thirteen individuals have become ill from a serious and sometimes fatal fungal infection previously unseen in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The fungus, Candida auris, is known to occur in health care settings such as hospitals and nursing homes. Seven cases occurred between May 2013 and August 2016 in four states: Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. As of August 31, four of these seven patients, all with bloodstream infections, died, though it is unclear whether their deaths were due to C. auris. The remaining six cases were identified after August and are still under investigation. "It appears that C. auris arrived in the United States only in the past few years," Dr. Tom Chiller, chief of the CDC's Mycotic Diseases Branch, said in statement. He added that scientists are working to better understand the fungus so they can develop recommendations to protect those at risk.
C. auris bloodstream infections have a 50% fatality rate in some countries, according to one study. Some strains of this yeast are multidrug-resistant and cannot be treated by the three major classes of antifungal medications. First reported in 2009 in Japan, cases have been recorded in South Korea, India, South Africa, Kuwait, Colombia, Venezuela, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. "Experience outside the United States suggests that C. auris has high potential to cause outbreaks in healthcare facilities," the CDC notes on its website. Importantly, this deadly organism is difficult to identify using traditional laboratory biochemical methods.
CDC's Candida auris page; CDC's report on these first seven cases.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday November 07 2016, @07:52AM
Candida auris sounds like such a pleasant pathogen! But one thing I have noticed through many, many plagues, outbreaks of pestilence, and Trump presidencies, is that the hype is always much worse than the actual event. As such, typhus and cholera are no walk in the part, and even influenza can take down an awful lot of people. But even the Black Death left the majority of the population alive. Could it be the fear of a return to the old days where doctors were as helpless as everyone else before what seemed a random and malevolent force causes excessive hype when it comes to new diseases?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 07 2016, @12:08PM
You know, the amount of arrogant idiocy you display when you spout off about things you know next to nothing about is pretty amazing sometimes. Still surprised you don't drown when walking in the rain.
THE concern here is C. auris is typically a secondary infection for people undergoing other types of treatment. As such, they are already pretty weak and have less of an ability to tolerate further treatment of an opportunistic infection.
This complicates and increases the mortality of a shit-ton of other diseases/procedures, from AIDS to surgeries.
So no, it's not quite the Black Death, but it has essentially made most every other type of disease deadlier and more costly to treat. And with the majority of the population heading towards their twilight years, this could be catastrophic.
That's not hyperbole.
(Score: 1) by purple_cobra on Monday November 07 2016, @05:35PM
It's pretty common among patients undergoing chemotherapy, I believe; a friend who had to have chemo was on all sorts of other medications to cure/make less serious the problems caused by the chemo itself from clobbering the immune system IIRC. I know I couldn't visit if there was even the suggestion I had something as trivial as a cold for the same reason.
So yes, unfortunately it is a big deal.
(Score: 2, Troll) by aristarchus on Monday November 07 2016, @06:48PM
Why, thank you, AC! Very gracious of you! Good teachers will tell students that there is no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid answers. Your response clarifies much, and so is greatly appreciated. Still not sure if I see the catastrophe, however. Shirley you are aware that pneumonia is sometimes referred to as "the old man's friend"?
OH, never quite sure if I've got that right, "stupid answers" or "stupid people". I tend to not drown in the rain by not looking skyward with my mouth agape, as domestic turkeys are wont to do. What's your trick?
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by khallow on Monday November 07 2016, @06:58PM
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by aristarchus on Monday November 07 2016, @07:42PM
khallow, just curious, why do you always miss the point so badly? Is it the altitude?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday November 07 2016, @10:36PM
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Tuesday November 08 2016, @04:34AM
So, not the altitude, just the attitude? You have been taking some hard hits here lately, khallow, so I want you to know that you are a valued member of the team. Just let go of the whole climate-denier thing, OK?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 07 2016, @04:26PM
Yeah black death, no big deal, most people lived. The estimates are only that 30-50% of the entire population of Europe died in 5 years. I mean geeze, consider your SO and a child, it's most likely that only one of you will be dead in 5 years. On the outside, statistically speaking, one of you will surely be alive in 5 years. So why does this diseasy thing frighten so many people. I just don't get it.
(Score: 1, Troll) by aristarchus on Monday November 07 2016, @06:41PM
You realize, of course, that my parents are long dead. My children and wife are long dead, too. My children's children have been dead for thousands of years, as have their children. I have fewer living relatives than Genghis Khan, and I long ago lost track of who they are. We are all dead in the long run, even though it seems to be taking a very long time for some of us, so yes, panicking over short term manifestations of a statistical certainty does seem a bit, um, emotional.
(Score: 2) by DutchUncle on Monday November 07 2016, @08:54PM
The hype is what wakes people up to take action to AVOID the actual event. So far we haven't encountered a scare that we can't do something about. The risk, on the other hand, could be devastating. For example, the US election has pushed Zika off the front page so most people don't pay attention to over 30,000 cases in the US. That could lead to a lot of brain-damaged babies, which will be very expensive (not to mention a human tragedy).
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday November 07 2016, @10:59PM
Point taken. Not meaning to discount the human tragedy of any disease, or the costs. But "devastation"? Why not just "very, very bad, and we should do something"?