new york –
US case Three times more dangerous bacteria In just three years, more than half of states reported it, according to a new study.
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in a paper published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine that the COVID-19 pandemic likely caused some of the increase. Hospital employees were strained by coronavirus patients, which likely distracted them from disinfecting other types of germs, they said.
The fungus Candida auris is a type of yeast that is normally harmless to healthy people, but can be a deadly risk to vulnerable hospital and nursing home patients. It can infect wounds, ears, and the bloodstream. Some strains are so-called superbugs that are resistant to all three classes of antibiotics used to treat fungal infections.
It was first confirmed in Japan in 2009, and has since been seen in more and more countries. The first US case he occurred in 2013, but was not reported until 2016. US health officials reported 53 cases of him that year.
A new study finds cases continue to soar, rising to 476 in 2019, 756 in 2020 and 1,471 in 2021. Doctors have also detected the fungus on the skin of thousands of other patients, making them a risk of infection. others.
Many of the original U.S. cases were infections imported from abroad, but now most infections are spreading within the United States, the authors note.
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The Associated Press’ Health Sciences Division is supported by the Scientific and Educational Media Group at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. AP is solely responsible for all content.
