A research carried out by the faculty working in university of Mysore and JSS hospital of Mysore has traced the presence of deadly superbug ‘Candida Auris’ for the first time in the state. The presence of this superbug is confirmed through molecular sequencing.
The superbug was traced following the research carried out by Umamaheshwari S, pursuing post-doctoral studies under Shubha Gopal, Professor, Department of Studies in Microbiology, the University of Mysore (UoM) and Dr Sumana M N, Professor and Head, the Department of Microbiology, JSS Medical college and hospital.
Candida Auris is a member of the ‘candidaemia fungus’ family, many of which reside in the human body. The fungus can survive in the environment for up to three months.
Why is ‘Candida Auris’ a problem?
1. It causes serious infections: C. auris can cause bloodstream infections and even death, particularly in hospital and nursing home patients with serious medical problems. More than one in three patients with invasive C. auris infection (for example, an infection that affects the blood, heart, or brain) die.
2. It’s often resistant to medicines: Antifungal medicines commonly used to treat Candida infections often don’t work for Candida auris. Some C. auris infections have been resistant to all three types of antifungal medicines.
3. It’s becoming more common: Although C. auris was just discovered in 2009, it has spread quickly and caused infections in more than a dozen countries.
4. It’s difficult to identify: C. auris can be misidentified as other types of fungi unless specialized laboratory technology is used. This misidentification might lead to a patient getting the wrong treatment.
5. It can spread in hospitals and nursing homes: C. auris has caused outbreaks in healthcare facilities and can spread through contact with affected patients and contaminated surfaces or equipment. Good hand hygiene and cleaning in healthcare facilities is important because C. auris can live on surfaces for several weeks.
The presence of ‘Candida Auris’
*C. auris was first isolated in 2009 from the external ear canal of a patient in Japan, with ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequencing and biochemical analyses indicating the identification of a novel Candida species. C. auris was subsequently reported the same year from 15 patients with chronic otitis media in South Korea. However, it turns out that C. Auris strains were also present in Pakistan and India in 2008 and 2009.
*Beginning in 2016, the CDC, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and Public Health England, among others, released a series of alerts to inform clinicians, laboratorians, infection prevention practitioners, and public health officials about the emerging health threat posed by C. auris and to request that all cases be reported to local, state, or national health departments.
*As of September 2017, a total of 127 confirmed and 27 probable cases from 10 states have been reported to the CDC. New York and New Jersey have identified the majority of the confirmed cases, reporting 86 and 26, respectively.
The fungus, which has a mortality rate of between 43 and 60 per cent, an incubation period of under 96 hours and can cause death within 30 days, is currently being controlled by a combination of drugs, some of which may be ineffective in the near future.
According to the research team, the superbug was found in two patients who underwent surgery. The samples have been sent to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh (PGIMER) for further studies.
Source: Deccan Herald, Times of India.
https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/candidiasis/pdf/Candida_auris_508.pdf
https://jcm.asm.org/content/56/2/e01588-17
Image: Economic Times