Three cases of Candida auris, a fungus that can cause a yeast infection known as candidiasis in humans, have been reported in Taiwan over the past few years, but they did not display drug resistance, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said yesterday.
Lo made the statement at a news conference in Taipei, one day after the Washington Post reported that the potentially deadly fungus is spreading in US hospitals.
The fungus was first discovered in Japan in 2009 and poses a danger to immunocompromised people, with an estimated mortality rate of 30 to 60 percent, Lo said.
Photo: AP
Most people infected in the US were hospital patients breathing through respirators or undergoing dialysis, he said, adding that the condition has affected people of all ages from newborns to the elderly.
The first Taiwanese case, reported in April 2018, was a 50-year-old resident of southern Taiwan who tested positive for the fungus following a skin infection, he said.
The man had diabetes and pemphigus, and regularly took prescription steroids and antibiotics, Lo said.
In May 2021, a Taiwanese businessman in his 60s who had returned from Vietnam to get treatment for septic encephalopathy tested positive for the fungus, Lo said, adding that it was the only time a candidiasis case in Taiwan was deemed life-threatening.
The man recovered after receiving intravenous antifungal medication, he said.
The most recent case, reported in February last year, was a resident of southern Taiwan in his 40s, Lo said.
The man tested positive after developing an ear infection with symptoms including discharge from the ear, tinnitus, hearing loss and vertigo, Lo said.
As candidiasis is not recognized as an epidemic, hospitals are not obliged to report infections, potentially leading to cases being unreported, he said.
The fungus can survive on surfaces for weeks, and many of its strains are resistant to multiple types of antifungal drugs, including some that are resistant to all three major groups of medication used to treat candidiasis, Lo said.
Traces of the fungus have been detected in the respiratory systems, urinary tracts and inner organs of healthy people, he said.
The CDC did not identify the infection source of the three Taiwanese cases, Lo added.
The Central Weather Bureau could issue a sea alert for Super Typhoon Mawar, as it is forecast to turn north and come closest to Taiwan from Tuesday to Wednesday next week. Mawar was downgraded from a super typhoon to a typhoon after sweeping across Guam on Wednesday night, knocking down trees and leaving much of the US territory without power. Many residents of Guam yesterday remained without power and utilities after Mawar tore through the remote US Pacific territory the previous night, ripping roofs off homes, flipping vehicles and shredding trees. There were no immediate reports of deaths and injuries, but the
ADJUSTMENTS: Over the next five years, every year except 2026 would have only one makeup workday to compensate for national holidays, the government said The Executive Yuan (EY) yesterday announced the official workday calendar for next year, which includes one makeup day and four holidays with more than three days off. It also announced new standards for makeup days in the event of consecutive holidays. The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration cited the importance of the Lunar New Year and Tomb Sweeping holidays to the public as its reason to mandate flexible off-days. The 115 total off-days dovetail with dates that international financial markets are closed, minimizing the effects of state holidays on stock and currency exchange trading, it said. Over the next five years, only the calendar for
EMBRACE CHANGE: Jensen Huang told NTU graduates that instead of worrying about AI itself, they should worry that people with expertise in AI would be taking their jobs Artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining the computer industry, and Taiwanese companies could play a major role in replacing the world’s traditional computers as they are the foundation of the industry, Nvidia Corp cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said in Taipei yesterday. Huang made the remarks while giving the keynote speech at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) commencement ceremony. AI has created immense opportunities, and versatile companies can be expected to take advantage and boost their position, while less flexible firms would perish, he said. “In every way, this is a rebirth of the computer industry and a golden opportunity for the companies of
‘ARCHAIC’: An interpretation of a law that considered Chinese as Taiwanese nationals was scrapped after the death of a Chinese in Kaohsiung led to state reparations An administrative mandate to consider Chinese as Taiwanese citizens was outdated, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday, a day after the Executive Yuan ordered that agencies disregard the 30-year-old interpretation. Chen made the remarks at an event held by the Environmental Protection Administration in Taipei following changes to the administrative mandate concerning the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例). The previous interpretation of the law was archaic and contrary to the workings of laws and regulations, he said, adding that the order was made to avoid unnecessary problems created by the mandate. The Mainland
RSS