CONNECT WITH US
Tech

Tech

This Deadly Fungus Keeps Learning How to Beat Every Drug We Throw at It

Gizmodo - Tech logo

Published on

Add as a preferred source on Google
This Deadly Fungus Keeps Learning How to Beat Every Drug We Throw at It

A dangerous fungal germ has learned how to completely outsmart humanity—and not for the first time.

In a recent report, scientists in Kenya detailed a worrying case of Candidozyma auris found in a 28-year-old patient. The person’s infection was resistant to all major types of antifungal drugs, they found. This particular strain might be unrelated to past pan-resistant cases, the researchers say, suggesting that this fungus can repeatedly adapt to all of our available weapons against it.

The strain’s “resistance to four major antifungal classes highlights the escalating threat of untreatable fungal infections, particularly in settings with limited access to novel antifungal agents,” the authors wrote in their paper, published late last month in the journal Scientific Reports.

C. auris (formerly known as Candida auris) has emerged as one of the most concerning superbug threats in the world. Though many people carry the fungus on their skin without harm, it can cause severe, life-threatening infections in people with weakened immune systems or generally poorer health. What makes C. auris especially scary is that it’s uniquely adept at evolving resistance to the most common medications used to treat fungal infections.

This latest case was documented in a woman who visited a hospital for an elective inpatient surgery. Afterward, she developed a hospital-acquired infection at the surgical site. Though she was given antibiotics for a potential bacterial infection, she continued to experience illness, and a swab of her wound pus revealed the presence of C. auris. The researchers eventually confirmed that her strain was resistant to all four major antifungal classes.


Source link

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We TheMorningPulse.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It's possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.