Tracking the next pandemic: Avian Flu Talk |
Drug-resistant superbug thriving |
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ksc
Adviser Group Joined: February 09 2020 Status: Offline Points: 10995 |
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Posted: October 24 2020 at 12:03am |
Candida auris is a superbug, a pathogen that can evade drugs made to kill it—and early signs suggest the COVID-19 pandemic may be propelling infections of the highly dangerous yeast. That’s because C. auris is particularly prominent in hospital settings, which have been flooded with people this year due to the coronavirus. The superbug sticks stubbornly to surfaces such as sheets, bed railings, doors, and medical devices—making it easier to colonize skin and pass from one person to another. Moreover patients who have tubes that go into their body, such as catheters or ones for breathing or feeding, are at the highest risk for C. auris infections, and these invasive procedures have become more common because of the respiratory failure associated with COVID-19. “Unfortunately, there have been places where we’ve seen a resurgence of C. auris,” says Tom Chiller, head of the mycotic diseases branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We’ve also seen it get into some of the acute care hospitals and also into some COVID-19 units … the concern there is that once it sets up shop in a place, it’s hard to get rid of.” |
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Dutch Josh
Adviser Group Joined: May 01 2013 Location: Arnhem-Netherla Status: Offline Points: 95567 |
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[url]https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3106874/hong-kong-battling-potentially-deadly-superbug[/url] or https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3106874/hong-kong-battling-potentially-deadly-superbug ; Hong Kong health officials are battling to control the spread of a potentially fatal drug-resistant superbug they believe has swept through the city’s public hospitals and elderly care homes because of the coronavirus. On Friday, Dr Raymond Lai, the Hospital Authority’s chief infection control officer, called the outbreak worrying, and said he was working to stop Candida auris, a fungal infection, spreading to the community. According to the authority, there were 136 cases reported in the city in the first 10 months of this year, compared to 20 in the whole of 2019. Patients have between a 30 and 60 per cent chance of dying, depending on which part of the body is infected. The authority did not say how many of this year’s cases had proved fatal. “We hope to control the fungus within the hospitals and elderly homes, so it won’t be spread to the community,” he said. |
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