A lethal, hard-to-treat fungal infection is spreading across the U.S. and becoming increasingly resistant to the few drugs available to treat it, CDC researchers warn.
reported in 2021, the researchers said, a “dramatic” 95% increase from the year before.infections, with data showing 756 cases in 2020, 476 in 2019, 330 in 2018 and 173 in 2017.
As the deadly yeast is relatively harmless to most people in good health and can survive on skin or in the environment, experts often screen symptomless patients to prevent it spreading to those at risk of an invasive infection, for example in hospitals and care facilities. Screening cases—those found to carry the fungus but who do not have symptoms of an active infection—have also increased, the researchers said, with the 4,042 reported in 2021 nearly triple the 1310 in 2020, though part of this could stem from increased testing efforts.
Surveillance data, which showed evidence of increased transmission in the U.S., also indicated a worrying increase in cases resistant to antifungal drugs, particularly a group called echinocandins, which are used as a first-line therapy.The researchers said the uptick in fungal infections can partially be explained by the Covid-19 pandemic, which strained already struggling healthcare systems and may have led to lapses in normally effective infection control measures.
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