US health officials are warning the public about a deadly fungus spreading rapidly in hospitals.
A fungus called Candida auris has grown in the United States in recent years, but the number of infections is expected to triple between 2019 and 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to preliminary data collected, the scale of the epidemic is increasing at an exponential rate.
The fungus, which is mainly transmitted directly by hands, does not affect healthy people, but is very dangerous for people with weakened immune systems. These can cause blood, heart or brain infections.
Elderly patients, those on ventilators or those with cancer are particularly at risk.
Depending on the different states affected by outbreaks of this fungus, the mortality rate of infected individuals varies from 30 to 60%. In 2021, 7,000 people will die from this fungus in the United States.
What makes the fight against this fungus particularly difficult is its resistance to drugs and disinfectants. For some strains, there are no effective antifungal drugs.
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