'Superbug' fungus new menace in US hospitals, mostly NY, NJ

ap.org ^ | 4/25/17 | MIKE STOBBE

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

A 'superbug' fungus is emerging as a new menace in U.S. hospitals, mostly in New York and New Jersey.

First identified in Japan in 2009, the fungus has spread to more than a dozen countries around the globe.
The oldest of the 66 cases reported in the U.S. dates back to 2013, but most were reported in the last year.

The fungus called Candida auris is a harmful form of yeast. Scientists say it can be hard to identify with standard lab tests.
U.S. health officials sounded alarms last year because two of the three kinds of commonly used antifungal drugs have little effect.

"It's acting like a superbug" bacteria, said Dr. Paige Armstrong of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Most vulnerable are fragile hospital patients - particularly newborns and the elderly.
It tends to be diagnosed in patients after they've been in hospitals for several weeks.
The fungus can infect wounds, ears and the bloodstream

On Tuesday, state health officials provided new details about the 44 cases in New York.
Aside from one case in Rochester, all were in New York City, at 15 hospitals and a doctor's office.
No site has had more than six cases.

Seventeen New York patients died, but state officials said everyone infected had other illnesses and the fungus was not necessarily the cause of death.

New Jersey has had 15 cases, Illinois, 4, and there's been one case in Indiana, Maryland and Massachusetts, according to the CDC.

[Vendome]

Probably delivered by toy guns...

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Infectious Disease :
Found in hospital and doctors offices

The fungus called Candida auris is a harmful form of yeast.

[DannyTN]

There’s a fungus amoung us!

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

And we have an outbreak of measles in the Twin Cities because Somalis won’t take the MMR vaccine.

[soycd]

Playing with feces and islam will do that.

[Bob434]

Manuka Honey- kills superbugs and the bugs do NOT build up a resistance to it- supposedly- Supposed to kill MRSA and a number of superbugs- 22 i believe is the count- mainly I think it’s for wound superbugs like open wounds, leg ulcers, surgical scars etc-

[HollyB]

Probablyvno recovery if someone gets that in their lungs.

[oldasrocks]

I wonder if ozone treatment would kill it. It kills household mold. We had a roof leak that molded inside a bedroom. A few hours of ozone and it was dead. Much safer than harmful chemicals. Warming: It kills house plants and goldfish too.

[firebrand]

And refusing to wash your hands.

[Bob434]

I forgot to mention- the manuka honey must be in the form of sterile strips or ointment- the raw honey can introduce bacteria on it’s own- but the strips and ointments both are sterile enough that they won’t-

[KC Burke]

I have a place in the midwest that has some seven year old treated wood with protective stain that now has had 1 or 2% of the wood develop black fungus like the black fungus that eats out the inside of giant oaks.

It will eat a treated 2 x 6 in a matter of ten weeks. Killed everything with oxy-bleach tyoe mold and fungus killer but damn, that is nasty stuff.

[HollyB]

Not sure. These are like viral type fungal infections. Kind of how strep and staph travel. Being a chemo & transplant patient, I took anti fungal meds as a prophylactic for a year. I know a few people who did not make it due to fungal pneumonia. I could not be around plants in the house, of course not garden, etc as doing so could possibly cause fungal pneumonia.

This fungis is air born and stubborn to the available meds normally used to treat the infection.

[Pelham]

Great.

We are already very close to the post-antibiotic era where we can’t cure the diseases we have held at bay since WWII.

And now the fungi are joining the party.

The Fourth Horse is getting ready.

[pax_et_bonum]

I’m not going to ask how you know that it kills goldfish.

[knarf]

I have been all over the definition of this thing and there is NOTHING describing any symptoms.

Every article sounds like globull warming hysteria and not a one says anything like ... headaches, upset stomach green poop ....

All they say is it's contagious and it's in two states and it affects various parts of the body .... but there is no definition.

[mountn man]

Black seed oil works on numerous fungus'.

Works on MRSA

[jiggyboy]

Red-state America wins again by not going to hospitals whose Emergency Rooms look like the third-world version of the Star Wars cantina.

[GailA]

The last Mumps out break was because of a failure in the vaccine. The kids were vaccinated.

They can't even cure Sweat intertrigo which is just a skin yeast infection in a skin fold. Idiots want to keep it moist, it thrives in hot moist areas of the skin and they give you creams to put on it and Nylon bras make it hotter and worst. Often only weak athletes foot cream. It spreads like wild fire. Big breasted women are often victims of it.

Over use of drugs like Diflucan just make you immune. Nystop is the only dry powder that works, along with hand sanitizer applied to the effected area, blow dry, apply the Nystop as often as the burning last. Not even surgeons scrub will kill it. I'm a 40 D, 130 Lb certainly not FAT. Just old 68 and been OVER gifted since 12. Constant battle to fight this crap. This last bout is 2 months old and still slightly there. And we are entering Memphis hot months.

[HollyB]

Most likely people are dying from fungal pneumonia and not skin related infections.