The killer fungus killed in Milan where a 79-year-old man infected with Candida auris died of a septic crisis. The patient had arrived at the Sacco hospital in the Lombard capital from Greece, where he had been in intensive care for eight months, The swab that was done to him upon his entry into the Milanese structure, about ten days ago, was a result positive for two multiresistant bacteria and Candida auris.
It would not be an indigenous case
Mushroom that had proved “sensitive” to treatments simmediately start with an antifungal that was proving effective. Which points out ad Antonio Castellihead of intensive care del Sacco, that “it cannot be said that there is a direct link between death and candida auris”, which for the first time in this case was isolated in the ward. The elderly man had ended up in intensive care in Greece for a brain problem . After eight months where he had had various complications of a septic type, the family decided to take him back to Italy and al Sacco arrived with serious problems of decubitus, completely dependent on the ventilator, and precisely with candida auris but also and above all two multi-resistant bacteria.
Bassetti: “More attention in the hospital”
The case of the man who died after being infected with the Candida auris fungus should first warn hospital workersexplains the infectious disease specialist Matthew Bassetti who invites colleagues to do a “great job of infection control” considering the high danger of the fungus. The man who died in Milan had been hospitalized for a stroke, after returning to Italy from Greece. Several positives emerged from the Sacco exams, including the one at Candida auriss that he would have infected him before his return to Italy, where the fungus was first identified in 2019. At the time an outbreak had emerged which then affected the northern regions during the pandemic period, as beraking latest news recalls, citing the ISS website. Since the first identification, about 300 cases between imported and natives had been registered, in particular between Liguria and Emilia Romagna.
“It’s resistant to drugs, high mortality”
Especially during the period of covid pandemic, Candida auris infections have increased in US hospitals. According to CDC data published in the Annals of internal medicine, in 2021 the cases resistant to the most used drug for the treatment of infections with this fungus, achinocandides, tripled. And it is precisely in the ability to resist pharmacological treatment that Bassetti indicates the great danger of a fungus that “we know well because we have had several cases in Italy, even fatal ones – explains the director of infectious diseases of San Matteo in Genoa – and which we must fight because it can affect those who are hospitalized. PUnfortunately, it is the result of the inappropriate use of antibiotics – explains Bassetti – and in the specific case the antifungals, which made the candida more resistant. It is therefore a drug-resistant microorganism, which has a very high mortality rate which can reach 50%, therefore one in two of those affected can risk their lives”. According to Bassetti, there is no need to be alarmed, but attention must certainly remain high in hospitalsbecause Candida auris “attacks the most fragile, the elderly or those with a venous catheter, tracheal tubes, who have an immune system that doesn’t work well”
Candida auris, what is it
Candida auris is a fungus (or yeast) described for the first time in 2009, also called: Super fungus, as it is incredibly resistant to the main categories of antifungal drugs, usually used to eradicate fungal infections or Killer fungus, as it is highly lethal (for now) in the most fragile patients. “Auris” derives from the Latin “ear”, a name attributed to having been isolated from the external auditory canal of a 70-year-old woman admitted to a Japanese hospital. Since its identification, doctors have begun to record new cases of Candida auris infection all over the world, from the United States to Kenya, from India to Venezuela, from Australia to Europe.
How it is transmitted
The methods of transmission of C. auris known to date are:
• Contact with contaminated surfaces and medical devices;
• Interhuman contact, from person to person.
In addition, this yeast has virulence factors and a tropism for surfaces which make it unique in its persistence in the environment and on the skin, thus enhancing its transmission capacity.
How it manifests itself
The clinical manifestation of Candida auris infection depends on the site. Most frequently, the pathogen is responsible for:
• Bloodstream infections;
• Intra-abdominal infections;
• wound infections;
• Plague.
Candida auris has also been isolated from biliary fluid, the respiratory tract, and urine, however, it is not yet clear whether the pathogen can cause lung, bladder, or other infections.
What are the symptoms
Candida auris infections are accompanied by burning, difficulty swallowing, body aches, fever and fatigue. It should be noted that the skin and other body sites can be colonized even in the absence of signs and symptoms.