Dozens of people being treated for COVID-19 at a Florida hospital last summer were additionally infected with a mysterious, often deadly fungus called Candida auris, a US government study said Friday.
The multidrug-resistant yeast was first identified in Japan in 2009 and has been a top priority for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the past few years because of its increasing global spread.
C auris is associated with up to 40 percent in-hospital mortality and is usually caught inside healthcare settings, especially when people have feeding or breathing tubes, or catheters placed in large veins.
Photo: AFP
It causes bloodstream, wound and ear infections and has also been found in urine and respiratory samples, but it is not clear if the fungus actually infects the lung or bladder.
The outbreak began in July when a hospital — which the report did not name — notified the Florida Department of Health of an initial four cases of the fungus among patients being treated for COVID-19.
The next month, the hospital carried out additional screening in its COVID-19 unit, which spanned four floors across five wings, and identified 35 more patients as being C auris-positive.
Follow-up data were available for only 20 out of the 35 patients. Eight of these 20 people died, but it was not clear whether the fungus was the main factor.
The Florida Department of Health and the CDC performed a joint investigation focused on infection prevention and control measures, finding numerous weaknesses.
“Mobile computers and medical equipment were not always disinfected between uses, medical supplies (eg, oxygen tubing and gauze) were stored in open bins,” the CDC report said.
It added that hospital staff, possibly out of fear of COVID-19, were wearing multiple layers of personal protective equipment (PPE), which is not recommended and heightens the risk of microbe transmission.
There were also instances of extended PPE use and reuse.
After the hospital removed supplies from hallways, enhanced cleaning and disinfection practices, and improved practices around PPE use, no further C auris was detected on subsequent surveys.
“Outbreaks such as that described in this report highlight the importance of adhering to recommended infection control and PPE practices and continuing surveillance for novel pathogens like C auris,” the report concluded.
The fungus has been documented in more than 30 countries, with about 1,500 US cases reported to the CDC as of Oct. 31 last year.
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