Scientists in Singapore have discovered a new family member of a nightmare fungus. In new research this week, they detail finding a genetically distinct type of Candida auris in several patients of theirs—the sixth such type found to date. The fungus is one of the most feared superbug threats around, since it can resist multiple antifungals as well as spread quickly in hospitals and other hotspots.
C. auris was first discovered in 2009. While it usually colonizes healthy people without making them sick, it can also cause severe infections, particularly in people with weakened immune systems.
These infections are often difficult to fend off, since the fungus can typically resist several or even all classes of antifungals available to treat it. It’s also hard to fully eradicate once established in an environment. C.
auris infections are still rare overall, but cases in the U.S. and elsewhere have grown substantially in recent years and the fungus has been steadily increasing its reach across more parts of the world.
This new research, published last month in The Lancet Microbe , is the latest sign that C. auris has plenty more tricks up its sleeves. Doctors from the Singapore General Hospital had come across a patient carrying a strain of C.
auris in April 2023 as part of a routine screening program. In Singapore, these cases tend to originate from people who caught the infection somewhere, but the patient reported no recent travel in the past two years, which intrigued the.