CALIFORNIA — A potentially deadly and often drug-resistant fungus is spreading in health care facilities in California and 26 other states, according to federal health data.
The fungus, Candida auris, or C. auris, is a type of yeast that can cause severe illnesses and spread among patients in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities. It can cause problems ranging from skin infections to potentially deadly bloodstream infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nationwide, 3,437 cases were identified across 27 states, as of July 25. California had recorded the most cases, with 902, followed by Texas with 433 and Tennessee with 283.
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Other states reporting cases are Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The CDC said the counts are provisional and may change as states revise their reports. Florida and Arkansas did not report data.
Patients can carry and spread the fungus without showing symptoms. It can also survive for long periods on surfaces and objects such as bedrails and doorknobs.
Most healthy people are not considered to be at significant risk. Those most vulnerable include "very sick people" in hospitals and nursing homes who have catheters, breathing tubes or other medical devices, according to the CDC.
The authors of a 2022 scientific review described C.auris as an urgent global health threat and called for coordinated surveillance, stronger infection-control measures and the urgent development of new therapies.
Several strains are resistant to antifungal medications.
A CDC analysis of more than 8,000 samples collected in 2022 and 2023 found that more than 95 percent were resistant to fluconazole, a commonly used antifungal treatment.
Most infections can still be treated with a class of medications called echinocandins, the CDC said.
Studies have estimated a mortality rate of between 30 percent and 60 percent among people with C. auris infections.
However, federal health officials cautioned that many patients were already seriously ill, making it difficult to determine how much the fungus contributed to their deaths.
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