There is a new smell, very contagious, infecting women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed to the Mirror that two patients had the first cases of a particular type of drug-resistant fungus after experiencing symptoms of a rash. It is an infection similar to a form of ringworm.
New highly contagious fungus, confirmed infection for two patients
The patients are located in the United States, ages 28 and 47, and experienced the first known cases of drug-resistant ringworm.
The two women, reports the Mirrorr, had lesions on the neck, buttocks, thighs and abdomen, and family members also accused the symptoms.
David Denning, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Manchester, revealed that the infection, which can be spread easily in schools and homes, is spreading across countries. He said: “Fungal skin infections are passed from person to person in schools, homes and by intimate contacts.”
«This new mushroom is called Trichophyton indotineae, first identified in India. It has already spread to Canada and Germany, and now to the United States,” he added, saying the infection inflames the skin.
The 28-year-old woman first reported developing rashes in the summer of 2021 and sought medical attention in December after experiencing large, scaly rashes all over her body. A dermatologist diagnosed ringworm and prescribed antifungal treatment in January 2022, after the birth of her baby. The problem is that the drugs have not changed the situation.
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Treatment with drugs does not resolve
She was then given a four week course of another antifungal which eventually cleared the rash.
Meanwhile, a second woman, aged 47, began experiencing severe rashes during a trip to Bangladesh. She too turned to dermatologists because the creams and therapies used immediately had no effect. She, too, was given two four-week cycles of medication which helped improve the rash by 80%. She, too, had symptoms such as widespread, scaly rashes on her thighs and buttocks.
EXCLUSIVE: Warning ‘world not prepared’ as women infected with highly contagious fungal disease pic.twitter.com/PxHMWgM9vm
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) May 20, 2023
Denning said that for two decades they treated these infections with oral terbinafine for 3 weeks, successfully, until this new fungal species arrived.
«The most plausible explanation for its appearance is the frequent use in India of terbinafina topica (cream and ointment), which does not completely cover the infected area or penetrate deeply into the skin, allowing resistant variants to leak out,” Denning explained.
“Fortunately, itraconazole at a dose of 400 mg a day is usually effective. But to know whether or not the fungus is this unusual species and whether or not it is resistant to terbinafine requires specialized testing in a mycology laboratory.
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Denning revealed that “the world is not yet prepared” for what will become an epidemic of skin infections due to higher temperatures due to climate change and drug resistance.
The conclusion is no less alarming because he said: “There are not enough laboratories of this type, but rapid tests for resistance are commercially available. The world is not yet prepared for what is likely to become a slowly evolving epidemic of skin infections.”