The yeast fungus Candida auris is on the rise worldwide. Worrying: Between 30 and 60% of those infected die. The risk of infection for people with intact immune systems is not considered to be extremely high.
The US health authority CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) has already classified the fungus Candida auris as an “urgent threat”. And the World Health Organization (WHO) also ranked yeast as one of only four pathogens in a list published in 2023 to prioritize fungi that cause human infections. Experts are watching the fungus so closely because it has several properties that are of medical concern. These are mainly these two aspects:
Although candida auris is not transmitted through the air we breathe, but only through direct contact, it can have serious consequences, especially in hospitals or health facilities. There, the yeast can “migrate” from patient to patient and then cause so-called nosocomial infections. This can occur through smear infections, for example through contaminated surfaces of medical equipment.
Candida auris has a pronounced resistance to common fungal drugs (antimycotics). The fungus can also develop new resistance to other drugs relatively quickly. Increased resistance to disinfectants has also been reported.
For people with a weakened immune system, such as intensive care patients or newly operated patients, it can become a serious threat – if infected, the course can even be fatal. The US health authority CDC estimates that between 30 and 60 percent of all infections in which Candida auris enters the body are fatal, the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety AGES writes on its website.
The risk of infection for people with intact immune systems is not considered to be extremely high.
This is the situation in Austria
In January 2018, this pathogen was detected for the first time in Austria by AGES. A patient in Styria had consulted a resident physician for long-standing inflammation of the ear canal, who sent an ear swab to the AGES for examination for microbial pathogens. The Austrian patient was successfully treated, reports AGES.
In the following years there were four more cases (between February 2020 and April 2022) in Austria. Two of those affected were previously hospitalized in Spain and Greece.
increase in outbreaks
The fungus, which was first detected in Japan in 2009 in the external auditory canal of a 70-year-old patient (Note: Auris is the Latin word for ear), has now spread across the world. Recently, the number of cases has increased significantly, especially in the US. But the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has also noted increased outbreaks in Europe, for example in England, Spain and Italy. Also in Germany, the number of cases has increased significantly since 2020, as the “RP online” reports.
In Europe, a total of 620 cases have been reported in seven countries since 2013 (Spain, UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Norway, Austria).