The Department of Health has provided an update on a “superbug” recently discovered in Mississippi.
Candida auris (C. auris) was first discovered in Mississippi in late November, and since then, over 60 patients have been treated for the highly contagious, antibiotic-resistant fungal infection imposing severe threats to those already suffering from serious health conditions.
C. auris is easily transmissible, both on surfaces and person-to-person, and can be detrimental in congregate settings such as long-term care facilities. In classifying cases, there is a distinction between infections and “colonizations,” which refers to the presence of microorganisms that have not yet caused infection.
Of the patients treated so far in Mississippi, 12 have been infected and 53 colonized. There have also been four deaths that health officials believe could have been induced by C. auris.
