Drug-resistant fungus rapidly spreading in European hospitals

A drug-resistant fungus is spreading quickly across hospitals in Europe, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is warning that it can pose a “serious threat to patients and health care systems.” According to the Centre, case numbers and outbreaks are both increasing, with several countries saying they’ve seen “ongoing local transmission.”

The fungus, called “Candidozyma auris,” or C. auris, can cause severe infections in ill patients, the Centre warned. Most people who get C. auris already have “serious underlying health conditions,” the Cleveland Clinic wrote, so it is challenging to estimate its true mortality rate. There have been limited studies that found it to be anywhere from 30% to 60%, the clinic said.

Outbreaks have been reported in Cyprus, France and Germany. Spain, Italy, Romania and Greece have “indicated they can no longer distinguish specific outbreaks due to widespread regional or national dissemination,” the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control wrote in a press release.

Not only is C. auris often able to resist antifungal drugs, but the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that several common hospital disinfectants have not proved effective on it either.

“Its ability to persist on different surfaces and medical equipment and to spread between patients makes it particularly challenging to control,” the European Centre said.

From 2013 through 2023, countries in Europe reported over 4,000 cases of C. auris. There was a steep increase to 1,346 cases out of 18 countries in 2023, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said. Over the last ten years, Spain, Greece, Italy, Romania and Germany were found to have had the most cases.

Meanwhile, the United States saw 10,788 clinical cases of C.auris between 2016 and 2023.

Ways to prevent the transmission of the fungus in health care facilities, per the CDC, include: maintaining hand hygiene; setting-based precautions; environmental disinfection with an effective product and patient transfers that let providers know about the patient’s infection.