Uk : 200 patients infected by a fungus-resistant

vilevi/Epictura

Published the 16.08.2017 at 11h26

A A

Keywords :

United Uniantibiorésistancechampignonhôpital

In the United Kingdom, a fungus rare and resistant to treatments causing concern in hospitals. About 200 people have been infected in close to 60 sites of care across England, said the official agency Public Health England (PHE) on Tuesday.

In about a quarter of the cases of infections by Candida auris, the patients have developed infections with symptoms ; 27 of them have been victims of infections of the bloodstream, without a fatal outcome. Most cases were asymptomatic and the health care agency is reassuring on the profile of this fungus, of which the risk is considered low.

Spread in a hospital environment

But its potential to spread within care establishments, to him, is high. The members of the nursing staff of the hospitals in uk are working in collaboration with the agency to limit the spread of the fungus, knowledge of PHE.

Candida auris was isolated for the first time in 2009, in the ear of a patient in Japan. Since then, it has been linked to cases of infection of wounds and of the bloodstream. Eight countries have reported its presence on their territory (South Africa, Kuwait, India, Venezuela…). The first uk case was identified in 2013.

The United States record 98 cases of contamination. On their website, the CDC considered that this fungus emerge represents a “serious threat to public health” and explain that C. auris has been at the origin of hospitalizations in the heavy to severe.

Resistant to three treatments

“Some strains of C. auris is resistant to the three major classes of antifungal therapies. This type of resistance to several treatments has not been observed on other strains of Candida, ” one can read. In fact, the most common form of this class of fungus is Candida albicans, usually harmless, associated with yeast infections without the severity in the genital tract, the gastrointestinal tract, the mouth and the skin.

“C. auris can persist on surfaces in health-care settings and spread between patients in institutions “, is reminiscent of the CDC. In the Uk, PHE explains that three hospitals among the centres that are affected are facing an outbreak of size, which proved to be ” difficult to control “. These institutions are now rid of the fungus.