Deadly Japanese super fungus which is resistant to drugs is linked to deaths of EIGHT patients in UK hospitals
- Candida auris super fungus has been found in 25 hospitals across the UK
- It has been linked to the deaths of eight patients, while around 50 survived and 200 had ‘skin colonised’
- Patients were already ‘seriously ill’ so fungus wasn’t recorded as cause of death
Eight patients in UK hospitals have died after being infected with a deadly Japanese super fungus.
Candida auris, which can enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body, causing serious infections, has been found in 25 hospitals.
Around 50 patients survived and 200 more patients had ‘skin ‘colonised’ by the fungus, before it entered their bodies via wounds.
Candida auris, which can enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body, causing serious infections, has been found in 25 hospitals
Public Health England (PHE) said the fungus, which was first identified in 2009, hasn’t been recorded as the cause of the victim’s death as the patients were already ‘seriously ill’.
A spokesman told The Sun: ‘What seems to make Candida auris somewhat unique is that it spreads so easily from person to person.
‘Once in the bloodstream, it circulates and multiplies, causing sepsis [blood poisoning].
‘Yeast cells can also deposit in organs [liver, spleen, brain] causing abscesses, or forming vegetations on heart valves.’
Public Health England announced earlier this month that it is looking to update its guidance on C. auris amid fears it is ‘spreading like wildfire’.
The agency first published guidelines for dealing with the fungus in 2017, including telling doctors to isolate infected patients and ramp up hygiene measures.
A large outbreak in Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust’s Royal Brompton Hospital in west London involved 72 patients between April 2015 and November 2016 and caused the hospital to shut its intensive care unit for 11 days.
As of July 2017, no-one has died directly from C. auris infection in the UK, according to PHE.