Outbreak of Untreatable, Drug-Resistant Superbug Fungus Unnerves Experts in 2 US Cities:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) discovered multiple instances of Candida Auris that were resistant to all medicines in two health institutions in Texas and a long-term care facility in Washington, D.C. for the first time.
According to researchers, a deadly, difficult-to-treat fungal infection spreading through nursing homes and hospitals across the United States is becoming even more dangerous. For the first time, the fungus, Candida Auris, was utterly impervious to all existing medication in several cases.
[...] The discovery, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday, is a concerning step in the evolution of C. Auris, a hardy yeast infection first found in Japan in 2009 and spreading rapidly throughout the globe.
During the coronavirus pandemic, federal health officials believe the disease has expanded even farther, with overburdened hospitals and nursing homes unable to keep up with the surveillance and control procedures needed to manage local outbreaks.
According to the C.D.C.'s recent study, five out of over 120 cases of C. Auris were resistant to therapy.
[...] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not name the facilities where the novel infections occurred. Still, health officials said there was no apparent link between the outbreaks in Texas at a hospital and a long-term care facility that shared patients and in Washington, D.C. at a single long-term care center. Between January and April, epidemics occurred.
According to the C.D.C., about a third of infected patients died within 30 days, although officials said it was unclear if their deaths were caused by the fungus because they were already critically ill.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @09:54AM (3 children)
Boycott yeast, stop drinking beer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @10:15AM (1 child)
Increase ABV of all beers, pour directly into wounds.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @10:26AM
Doesn't work. The yeast that pooped the alcohol survived the concentration.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Tuesday July 27 2021, @10:14PM
Kill yeast, drink more beer!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @10:24AM (4 children)
Mother nature's way of riding itself of the human infection?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @10:27AM
Social media spreading infections faster than before.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Tuesday July 27 2021, @11:34AM
In any case it's only resistant to conventional medication. Topical application of F00F, or chlorine triflouride, for example, has been found to get rid of it quite effectively.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @01:53PM
God's punishment to white men for allowing Mexicans and H1B's in?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 28 2021, @05:37AM
In ancient china - plagues & natural disasters are a sign that the emperor and his dynasty has lost the mandate of the heavens. A new dynastic cycle is at hand.
As Korg puts it: The revolution has begun!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @11:23AM (3 children)
Don't capitalize species epithets.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday July 27 2021, @12:10PM
Yeah, E.Coli might get upset.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @12:40PM (1 child)
And write them in Italics... like it should be
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @06:26PM
Actually yes.
(Score: 4, Funny) by looorg on Tuesday July 27 2021, @02:18PM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday July 27 2021, @04:06PM (1 child)
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday July 27 2021, @10:18PM
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0, Troll) by VLM on Tuesday July 27 2021, @03:09PM (5 children)
Can't they just wear cloth "make believe" masks to prevent the spread? Clearly we're post-scientific method so it doesn't matter if it works, only if you can status signal on social media about it.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @03:22PM (2 children)
Pfffft, that doesn't work. You have to wash your hands while singing the Happy Birthday song, and you will never get the fungus. Have FAITH in Science.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday July 27 2021, @04:08PM (1 child)
You must get the tune right when singing Happy Birthday, or the hand washing is ineffective and offers no protection.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Wednesday July 28 2021, @05:39AM
Doesn't matter 5G is the real cause here.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday July 28 2021, @01:18AM (1 child)
What are you worried about? Not only do you clearly have only one helix, it's a nonsense strand...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 28 2021, @10:26AM
Funny how much time you spend fighting with Runaway and VLM. Here's actual video [youtube.com] of you and Runaway together.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday July 27 2021, @03:09PM (29 children)
Isn't that cute. People might want to avoid those facilities. How do you avoid an unnamed facility?
And, it is personal. I'm supposed to visit a rather large medical center in Texas for some testing real soon. Should I stay in open areas, avoiding contact with the walls, or anything that might harbor a fungus? Is it safe to sit down?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Tuesday July 27 2021, @04:11PM (25 children)
Should people take any precautions against a fungus infection if they don't take precautions against covid?
Just asking for a friend.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday July 27 2021, @04:33PM (24 children)
Define "don't take precautions". That is almost offensive, DannyB. Maybe you don't understand that I avoid crowds. I haven't attended a single super spreader event since about . . . 1990 or so I guess. I seldom approach people outside of family closer than 20 feet, and then only on business. I wear a mask at the doctor's office - I don't want to catch everyone's pathogens. To claim that I take no precautions against the COVIDS is just silly.
The issue at hand here is fungus. I can't remember ever sitting or lying down in a fungus patch. Any fungus found in my work place, my home, or yard is quickly exterminated. If while traveling, I happened to notice a home being swallowed by fungus, I would call authorities immediately.
Now, about the hospitals - and Super Fungus. Why isn't the public being warned about these Super Fungus? And, why not identify the facilities? How do you defend yourself against this Super Fungus? Does it lurk behind doors, and pounce out at you? Should I carry my AR-15 to defend myself if attacked? Should I stop at the Army/Navy Surplus, and pick up a flamethrower?
I, for one, will check under the table I lay on for the X-rays, check under the examination bed, and peer carefully inside the MRI.
Hell, I'll just bring my own isolation suit, and dress out before I go inside. I don't want to bring any of that stuff home with me!
/maybesarcasm?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday July 27 2021, @05:01PM
No offense is intended. It sounds like you are doing a lot better than some people are at protecting yourself. Some people almost seem to invite sickness.
I don't know much about super fungus. But it doesn't sound good.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday July 27 2021, @08:08PM (1 child)
I guess that's an option when you don't run the risk of being pulled over and/or arrested for driving while modulo(law enforcement locale[, persecutable ethnicity]). In the absence of jump-scare zombies, it's still much a matter of the probability/combinatorics of *minimizing* exposure, which I'm realizing (duh) that most people haven't taken an intro class in that and don't anchor their understanding of infection or dying from it [cnn.com] against that epidemiological model.
What would that look like? (I'm a little rusty, so I don't know if this is the notation for independent variables):
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday July 28 2021, @01:56PM
Simplification:
p(infection) ≈ p(trump worshiping cultist)
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 29 2021, @05:35AM (20 children)
After over a year of your bitching about SARS-CoV-2 mitigation and masks, did you really just come out and say you wear one and call it a precaution against the Coronavirus? MaSkS dOn'T wOrK! Again and again and again. FFS. Congratulations for getting there even if it is out of selfishness. At least your family can count on you being there a bit longer.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday July 29 2021, @06:02AM (19 children)
If you've followed me all this year and a half - I've said that I cannot wear a mask indefinitely. I can't wear one for an 8 hour work shift. I cannot, and will not, put one on to ride around town, to walk through the park, or to tend to most routine business. Won't even attempt to wear one while engaged in strenuous activity. Did I say attempt? I won't even consider it.
I can, and I am willing, to put one on for short periods of time - when I deem it reasonable to do so, and my claustrophobia cooperates. Key phrase there: when I deem it reasonable to do so. Second key phrase there: and my claustrophobia cooperates.
Everyone is better off if you just respect my personal space. There's little reason for you get within 20 feet of me. Just stay away, and we'll all be happy. At the doctor's office, there are always sick people, and I have to share my personal space with them. I put the mask on, if it gets intolerable, I'll just step outside and take the damned thing off.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 29 2021, @08:51AM
That is in no way what you said and you know it. Everybody here knows what you've been spreading. However I am not surprised that the real reason you don't want to wear one is because you are afraid to do so. After all, that seems to be the reason you do a lot of things.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday July 29 2021, @08:41PM (17 children)
Butbutbutbut FACTS DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR FEEEEEEEEEEEELINGS!
Claustrophobia, LOL. Every few months you let slip what a fragile, shaking, scared-of-your-own-shadow wimp-ola you really are. Fuck, man, every single thing on the planet scares your kind. No wonder you're all so goddamn macho and loud, you're trying to fool yourself.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Friday July 30 2021, @12:59AM (16 children)
There's a difference between me, and all of you. I can own my fears. Publicly, even. All of you whose fears of the COVIDS border on the irrational are incapable of owning your fears. And, how is your fear of the superfungus coming along? Are you coming to terms with it? Did you mean to let slip that you are a quivering bundle of fear when it comes to fungus lurking in the corridors of your workplace?
You who hate me for not sharing your own fears, are going to mock my fears?
ROFLMAO
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday July 30 2021, @01:32AM (15 children)
Being afraid of something and refusing to face the reality of it are two different things. I face these things. You do not. You deny them. THAT is the difference between us.
And, again, I don't hate you. You don't rate my hate, mate. I can just about bring myself to pity you but even that's slipping.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday July 30 2021, @02:49AM (14 children)
LOL - have you seen a shrink? Oh, wait, I forgot that you are an official internet shrink yourself!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @09:15AM
You are giving her too much credit given how easy it is to see what you are doing. Your projection is more conspicuous and comical than an IMAX showing of Blazing Saddles.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday July 30 2021, @04:17PM (12 children)
You don't need a headshrinker, Runaway. Your problem isn't that you're insane, it's that you're willfully stupid to the point of evil. There's no cure for that that doesn't kill the patient.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Friday July 30 2021, @04:33PM (11 children)
Willfully stupid. If you say so. But, history supports my positions on most issues. Do you even history? History suggests that man - indeed, most animals - will overcome plagues, epidemics, and pandemics in spite of everything man does to defeat the new bug. Which other issues am I willfully stupid about? Gun control? Go read the history of the Soviet, China, Pol Pot, etc ad nauseum. Next issue? Oh, you're so very triggered about my position regarding a civil war. History supports my projection of casualty figures. Next?
Whatever issue you are "offended" by, you should go into the history books. There are reasons I arrive at my positions. All of them.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday July 31 2021, @12:34AM (10 children)
How do you manage to be so far out in left field you're not even in the same stadium? This is a bunch of non-sequiturs. No shit, most species survive--for a given definition of survive--most diseases. We are not here speaking of mere species survival; our technological civilization is immensely interconnected, fragile, and vulnerable to cascading failures.
As to your "position regarding a civil war," YOU read the history books: your side *lost,* and has been losing for 150+ years, and are so fucking asspained about it you will burn the entire nation down and deliberately spread deadly disease because "muh freedumbz" and "haha eat that libs."
Your stupid benighted God-forsaken state is one of the worst in the nation for Delta right now. You and every other nihilistic rebel-without-a-clue are willfully vectoring disease. I really, really hope you get Delta and survive it, and that is *not* a blessing.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 31 2021, @02:01AM (9 children)
How can you be so stupid? You talk of willful ignorance, then you practice it so very well. How do you figure that my side lost? Seriously, what gives you that idea? ALL of my ancestors, excluding the native Americans, settled or were born north of the Mason Dixon line. Not a single Southerner. Not one slave owner. Whether born in the US or in Europe, none of my ancestors took part in the slave trade. There were two Union soldiers on the maternal side of the family tree. Zero Confederate soldiers on either side of the tree. Those ancestors who lived here varied from not giving much of a damn about abolition of slavery, to being all for abolition. None of them were die-hard activists, but the consensus among them was that slavery was wrong.
Are you really so ignorant as to believe that because I live in Arkansas, my family were Arkansans? If I play that same game, you're a New Yorker, and that whole Van Eck schtick is just so much bullshit.
Privileged white bitch does not get to define who or what I am - especially when she is willfully ignorant, and is unable to understand what I tell her.
92nd percentile isn't all that very smart - but you consistently put the lie to your claim of being 92nd. Pull your head out, little girl.
No. All sides lost. Your side, my side, their side, the other side, left side, right side, all sides lost. And, in the event of Civil War 2, nothing will change. Everyone will lose.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday July 31 2021, @05:42PM (8 children)
You threw your lot in with the Confederacy when you moved to Arkansas you fucking death cultist. You knew what you were doing and explicitly stated you were sick of the "liberals" in the Northeast. "50 million dead progressives," asshole.
At this point, the most merciful thing that could happen to you is death by coronavirus. I really hope you catch Delta and survive it...eventually. And no, those two sentences are not in contradiction. You made your bed, you threw your lot in with the losers, and now you can suffer the consequences. You spread disinformation, propaganda, and an actual fucking plague.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 31 2021, @06:48PM (7 children)
I'm the death cultist? Listen to yourself, wishing death on people you disagree with. Then backtracking and hoping I catch a disease that you seem to believe is worse than death.
You are truly the most hateful person on SoylentNews.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday August 01 2021, @12:27AM (6 children)
No I'm not, Runaway. Not by a long shot. The people spreading disinformation, propaganda, and nihilism are. I'm just mean to the deserving, which includes you. You threw your human card away ages ago. Get wrecked.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 01 2021, @12:59AM (5 children)
Get wrecked? Like you? No thanks.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday August 01 2021, @02:53AM (4 children)
We've all got your number, Runaway. We all know what you are. Death by Delta is too good for you; survival of Delta with subsequent loss of livelihood, financial stability, and all that goes with it is fitting. You are spreading two kinds of plague and no one knows which does the more mischief.
You can't touch me. You can't touch any normal, decent person. You've fallen so far you have to look up to see an earthworm's asshole and you'd better damn well salute and say "Sir" when you do. This is what you've fallen to and in this way your life will end.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 01 2021, @11:29AM (3 children)
Look up to see an earthworm's asshole? That's a real insult from someone lower than whale shit, lol. If you're going with mindless insults, you'll have to do better. I've been around longer than you, and I've been insulted by professionals.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday August 01 2021, @07:01PM (2 children)
Why do you think I, or anyone else on this forum, actually think what you say has any weight any longer?
You're retirement age, you're anti-vax, you don't protect yourself or others, and you live in a home with at least two generations. Your granddaughter might actually be the one to bring home the infection that kills you, or your son. Or you might simply get unlucky and catch it the next time you go grocery shopping. You live in one of the worst states in the country for Delta and are actively making the problem worse.
Point is, the virus doesn't give a shit about your diatribes, your beliefs, your pathetic half-baked bravado, or your politics. It does what viruses do. I sincerely hope you survive your Delta infection (at this point, it's a fait accompli you're going to get it, almost everyone will). Note that "survive" isn't necessarily the best outcome.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 01 2021, @07:22PM (1 child)
So says the yapping chihuahua to the Saint Bernard. Face it, little puppy, you're obsessed with the Big Dog.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday August 02 2021, @04:47PM
Ignoring the truth doesn't make it go away :)
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @07:03PM (1 child)
No. Just stay afraid. That's all we ask of you, good citizen.
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Tuesday July 27 2021, @07:34PM
Yes. Much better to be blissfully ignorant.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @10:50PM
If I were you, I would Runaway!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @04:26PM (1 child)
Aside from the immediate danger, this is also going to feed the quacks who tout homeopathic cures for un-proven candida related issues.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday July 28 2021, @01:59PM
Maybe we can keep unproven homeopathetic cures from crossing the border from candida?
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday July 27 2021, @07:02PM (7 children)
This particular Candida species has been known of for a few years and it's the one I've always dreaded hearing about getting a toehold in the US healthcare system.
To shed some more light on this: echinocandins are last-line or nearly so for fungal infections and, while mostly well-tolerated, they're still not exactly pleasant drugs. The only candidate left is amphotericin B, which has the nicknames "ampho-terrible" and "ampho-terrorist" because it is extremely dangerous. And some strains are even resistant to that!
I really do not know what we can do about this. It's a pathogen of opportunity, meaning it will go after people who are already weak or immunocompromised, the very population least likely to tolerate a course of amphotericin B in the first place. Fungi are a lot closer to animals than they are to bacteria, and the usual method of dealing with them -- disrupt the ergosterol pathways -- isn't risk-free either.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @11:15PM
Our protocol is to do susceptibility testing ASAP because resistance is getting much more common. If it is resistant to the major classes, there is usually nothing we can do beyond giving them a cocktail and hoping the ID is able to get them something we normally can't. Some of the experimental stuff seem like miracle drugs compared to the "old" drugs in both adverse events and efficacy.
And then there is the cleaning you have to do once you discharge. You have to clean EVERYTHING and then even more on top of it. I think stronger infection controls in general can go a long way, but it isn't perfect and humans tend to get complacent anyway.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 27 2021, @11:15PM (1 child)
Bleach works, it knocks it out in one minute, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Somebody should look into this.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 28 2021, @02:30AM
No, that doesn't work. Do not offer any drug treatments. You must make the patient wait until we develop a vaccine.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday July 28 2021, @02:45AM (3 children)
You've probably already seen this, but anyway:
Candida auris: A Quick Review on Identification, Current Treatments, and Challenges
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8123192/ [nih.gov]
Particularly alarming how it reacts to biofilm, and can colonize practically any surface.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday July 29 2021, @08:44PM (2 children)
It seems like the separate landraces have different susceptibility profiles, which is why the cocktail approach (basically "nuke it from orbit") is the go-to. For now. Something that would dissolve those biofilms, without harming the patient, would be really helpful. I have to wonder if there's any research into enzymes like serrapeptase or nattokinase for this specific application...if the films can be dissolved it may remove certain physical pharmacokinetic barriers to the drugs getting to the individual cells. Or, perhaps synthesize whatever signalling factor converts the sessile form to the individual form.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Thursday July 29 2021, @10:41PM (1 child)
Good thoughts. Hopefully folks in research are looking at all those ideas.
Also have to wonder if there's something specific in the wild environment that normally keeps it in check, but is sterilized away by modern hospital cleaning regimens. Might be worth looking at whatever predators and parasites it has in the wild.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 30 2021, @06:22AM
They are working on those ideas and IIRC one of the articles someone cited in here will lead you down that path.
The other question you asked is a bit more interesting. Most fungi are limited by their hardiness and food supply. In the case of C. auris, the prevailing theory is that it began much like its cousins as a saprobe in a wetland area. It then acclimated to the warmer temperatures, dryer environments, and other habitat changes brought on by climate change, which many resemble the environment inside of living creatures. From there it infected a husbandry operation, likely by an avian carrier, and spread from there. Eventually zoonosis began to occur around 2005-2007. My understanding is that because of the way it came about according to the prevailing hypothesis, the checks on their growth in colonized individuals are mostly from our natural defenses limiting its food supply and our immune system preventing its spread to more hospitable areas.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday July 28 2021, @02:27AM
.... whether the deaths were due to the fungus "because they were already critically ill" ... maybe the real problem is age-weakened immune systems, to a degree we have not previously had to cope with if only because we're living longer.... and perhaps because of the effect of Covid infections, especially on the aged.
Lots of detailed info:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8123192/ [nih.gov]
"New case reports are increasing regarding C. auris infections in patients with COVID-19. Chowdhary (2020) discussed the situation in India, where for four months there was a 60% case-fatality rate of patients with diagnostic coronavirus disease, while two-thirds of them had confirmed C. auris infection [29]. Similar news has been reported in America. Four patients in the specialty care unit in Florida with COVID-19 were infected by C. auris [30]. Another alarming finding from Mexico revealed that mortality in patients with COVID-19-associated C. auris bloodstream infection was enormously high—over 83%, even with antifungal therapy [31]."
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 28 2021, @02:58AM
The jews are spreading a fungus to compound the harm caused by their lab-made and spread through chemtrails, etc jewish virus covid 1984.
Stop the jews = stop the infection