Zombie mold is spreading rapidly in the United States, making quarantine authorities nervous. The fungus has already been cited as a global public health threat, which scientists claim has exploded due to climate change.
According to CBS News, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received reports that the "Candida auris" fungus caused serious diseases or deaths at medical facilities in 29 states, including Florida.
Candida auris, which can only be seen using an optical microscope, is a yeast that causes many infections resistant to most antifungal agents, causing several deaths worldwide. Fungal infections can cause serious diseases, including blood flow, wound, and respiratory infections. The mortality rate is estimated to be 30 to 60 per cent.
Candida auris causes no symptoms in a healthy person's body. However, it poses a serious threat to patients who have already been weakened by other diseases, which can spread to the patient's body and cause serious complications. Because of this, it had a great impact on patients in hospitals and nursing homes.
In the United States, 2,377 clinical confirmed cases occurred last year, an increase of more than 1200% since 2017. In Europe, too, according to a survey last year, the number of patients nearly doubled between 2020 and 2021.
"The number of outbreaks has increased, but the geographical distribution has also increased," said Megan Marie Lyman, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC. "The number of cases rapidly increasing reflects the actual increase."
In response, scientists argued that the sudden explosion of the fungus, which had not been found in humans until 2009, could be due to climate change.
The fungus, which naturally appeared in Venezuela, India, and South Africa 14 years ago, was first discovered in the United States in 2016, when it was discovered at hospitals in New York State.
Mammals, including humans, have protected themselves from infection by maintaining an unbearable body temperature for most fungal pathogens. However, as temperatures rise, molds become resistant to higher temperatures, which can neutralize human resistance.
Scientists claim that this is already happening in Candida Auris.
Professor Arturo Casadeval, a fungal disease expert at Johns Hopkins University, said, "We have tremendous protection from fungi thanks to our body temperature. However, as the Earth gets warmer and molds begin to adapt to higher temperatures, some will go beyond what they call a temperature barrier," he said.
Dr. Louis Ostrowski, a professor of infectious diseases at the McGovern Medical School in Houston, also said, "Candida Auris is a nightmare scenario," adding, "It is a potential multidrug-resistant pathogen that can spread very efficiently in the medical environment, and I have never seen such a pathogen in the field of fungal infection."
Accordingly, in March this year, the CDC pointed out the seriousness of the problem, referring to the resistance of pathogens to existing antifungal treatments and the surprising rate of spread.
"There's no cure for this infection," Dr. Ostrotsky said. "I've seen mold spread throughout the intensive care unit in two weeks."
Common symptoms of infection include sepsis, fever, and low blood pressure, which are not only difficult to treat but also difficult to diagnose when infected. This is because it is very rare and most doctors do not know the existence of the disease.
Dr. Ostroski said, "Bacteria are diagnosed by blood tests, but about half of them are missed in the tests."
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