An emergent fungus is now being referred to by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a "urgent concern" because, according to a recent research, it has been spreading at an alarming pace throughout healthcare institutions.
Since it was first discovered in 2016, cases of Candida auris (C. auris), which is resistant to a number of antifungal medicines, have risen annually.
According to the study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, it rose most quickly in the years 2020 to 2021.
Between 2020 and 2021, the number of cases discovered through screening quadrupled to 4,041.
From 476 cases in 2019 to 1,471 cases that resulted in infection in 2021.
Between 2019 and 2021, 17 states discovered C. auris for the first time.
Lead author Dr. Meghan Lyman, an epidemiologist at the CDC, said: "The fast growth and geographic spread of infections is troubling and underscores the need for continuing monitoring, greater lab capacity, speedier diagnostic tests, and adherence to established infection prevention and control."
The frequency of infections resistant to echinocandins, the antifungal prescription advised for treatment, increased over the course of the preceding two years, raising similar concerns among researchers.