Western Washington records first case of potentially deadly fungus infection
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A potentially deadly fungus has appeared in western Washington after it was detected for the first time in a patient in the Tacoma area last week.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department officials say the man was diagnosed on July 13 at Kindred Hospital Seattle–First Hill after spending six weeks at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma.
It marks the state’s first known case of Candida auris, a part of the yeast family that the CDC says "presents a serious global health threat." It spreads through contact from person to person or via contaminated surfaces.
However, officials say the fungus isn’t a significant threat to healthy people. It can impact those in health care settings because the fungus can enter patients’ bloodstream and cause severe, deadly infections.
Those with invasive medical devices such as catheters or breathing tubes are the most vulnerable, along with those who receive long-term care in hospitals or have weakened immune systems.
Nigel Turner of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department said that the best way to prevent the spread of Candida auris is screening.
“Screening for contagious diseases helps healthcare and public health find infections early to help limit spread. It is a critical step to protect the public,” Turner said. “We prepare for this and other diseases to make sure we and our healthcare partners can respond quickly and effectively.”
The most common symptom of infection is a fever that won't go away. Some strains are so-called superbugs which are resistant to all three classes of antibiotic drugs used to treat fungal infections.
“This particular organism, this yeast or fungus, is resistant to most the treatments for yeast or fungus, which makes it very problematic and hard to treat,” Turner said.
The hospital says they are working with the CDC to figure out its next steps.
On March 22, a spokesperson for OHA told KOIN 6 there was a single outbreak of Candida auris at an Oregon health care facility that was contained to three cases. Meanwhile, the spokesperson told KOIN 6 News there had been an additional case at an Oregon health care facility in a patient who was an out-of-state resident, and that no spread had been detected.
The fungus was first identified in Japan in 2009 and has been seen in more and more countries. The first U.S. case occurred in 2013, but it was not reported until 2016. That year, U.S. health officials reported 53 cases.
The recent study found cases have continued to shoot up, rising to 476 in 2019, to 756 in 2020, and then to 1,471 in 2021. Doctors have also detected the fungus on the skin of thousands of other patients, making them a transmission risk to others.