TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – Kansas health officials are alerting healthcare professionals about a troubling increase in cases of a fungus that is often difficult or impossible to treat.
Public health officials are monitoring a rise in cases of Candidozyma auris (C. auris), formerly Candida auris, in Kansas, according to an alert from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Sept. 25. The KDHE posted the alert in an effort to warn healthcare workers about the dangers associated with the fungus and the threat it poses to people staying in hospitals and healthcare centers.
C. auris is described by the KDHE as a “multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen” that usually targets people who have severe underlying health conditions, complex healthcare needs or invasive medical devices. Healthcare workers and the general public are unlikely to get sick or carry the fungus.
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“C. auris is highly transmissible in healthcare settings. Persons who are colonized or infected can spread C. auris onto surfaces around them which can spread to others.”
KDHE health alert excerpt
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that C. auris is a type of yeast that can cause severe, even life-threatening, illnesses. It can cause superficial skin infections and more severe bloodstream infections…