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2021-07-23 10:35:22 UTC
DALLAS - An untreatable 'superbug' fungus outbreak has been reported at
two North Texas hospitals, the CDC reports.
Formally known as Candida Auris, the fungus is a form of yeast that can be
deadly to hospital and nursing home patients who have serious medical
problems.
It can be spread through patient contact pr contaminated surfaces.
"This is really the first time we've started seeing clustering of
resistance" in which patients seemed to be getting the infections from
each other, said the CDC's Dr. Meghan Lyman.
Health officials have sounded alarms for years about the superbug after
seeing infections in which commonly used drugs had little effect. In 2019,
doctors diagnosed three cases in New York that were also resistant to a
class of drugs, called echinocandins, that were considered a last line of
defense.
In those cases, there was no evidence the infections had spread from
patient to patient scientists concluded the resistance to the drugs
formed during treatment.
The new cases did spread, the CDC concluded.
In Washington, D.C., a cluster of 101 C. auris cases at a nursing home
dedicated to very sick patients included three that were resistant to all
three kinds of antifungal medications. A cluster of 22 in two Dallas-area
hospitals included two with that level of resistance. The facilities
weren't identified.
Those cases were seen from January to April. Of the five people who were
fully resistant to treatment, three died both Texas patients and one in
Washington.
Lyman said both are ongoing outbreaks and that additional infections have
been identified since April. But those added numbers were not reported.
Investigators reviewed medical records and found no evidence of previous
antifungal use among the patients in those clusters. Health officials say
that means they spread from person to person.
FOX 4 reached out to several local and state agencies for information
about the hospitals, but none of them could provide any.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.fox4news.com/news/untreatable-deadly-superbug-fungus-outbreak-
reported-at-two-north-texas-hospitals
two North Texas hospitals, the CDC reports.
Formally known as Candida Auris, the fungus is a form of yeast that can be
deadly to hospital and nursing home patients who have serious medical
problems.
It can be spread through patient contact pr contaminated surfaces.
"This is really the first time we've started seeing clustering of
resistance" in which patients seemed to be getting the infections from
each other, said the CDC's Dr. Meghan Lyman.
Health officials have sounded alarms for years about the superbug after
seeing infections in which commonly used drugs had little effect. In 2019,
doctors diagnosed three cases in New York that were also resistant to a
class of drugs, called echinocandins, that were considered a last line of
defense.
In those cases, there was no evidence the infections had spread from
patient to patient scientists concluded the resistance to the drugs
formed during treatment.
The new cases did spread, the CDC concluded.
In Washington, D.C., a cluster of 101 C. auris cases at a nursing home
dedicated to very sick patients included three that were resistant to all
three kinds of antifungal medications. A cluster of 22 in two Dallas-area
hospitals included two with that level of resistance. The facilities
weren't identified.
Those cases were seen from January to April. Of the five people who were
fully resistant to treatment, three died both Texas patients and one in
Washington.
Lyman said both are ongoing outbreaks and that additional infections have
been identified since April. But those added numbers were not reported.
Investigators reviewed medical records and found no evidence of previous
antifungal use among the patients in those clusters. Health officials say
that means they spread from person to person.
FOX 4 reached out to several local and state agencies for information
about the hospitals, but none of them could provide any.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.fox4news.com/news/untreatable-deadly-superbug-fungus-outbreak-
reported-at-two-north-texas-hospitals