São Paulo confirmed this Wednesday (7) the first case of contamination by the superfungus Candida auris in the state. The disease, recorded on May 18, was diagnosed in a premature baby who is hospitalized at the Women’s Hospital of the University of Campinas (Unicamp), Caism, in the interior of São Paulo.
In a note, Caism reported that the infected baby has a good clinical evolution, and that some of the weaknesses found in its health status are related to the fact that the child was born prematurely. The hospital also said that, so far, contamination by Candida auris has not reached other hospital patients, and that it continues to monitor other hospitalized patients.
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According to the Unicamp hospital, the methodology of contact precaution was adopted for children who were treated by doctors who had contact with the source case. In addition, disease prevention and control measures were adopted by the hospital. In a statement, the State Health Department reported that the hospital had implemented “all prevention and control measures” regarding the disease.
HIGH LETHALITY AND RESISTANCE
A characteristic of the superfungus Candida auris is its high lethality and the ability to resist the drugs used to combat the pathological agent. There are several strains of the fungus, and some are immune to all three classes of existing medicine. And although the means of transmission are uncertain, contamination within hospitals is a common feature of the superfungus’ history.
In Brazil, where the first case was detected in 2020, three outbreaks of the disease have already been recorded: two in Salvador, Bahia, and a more recent one in Recife, Pernambuco. All took place within hospital units. In one such outbreak, 48 people were infected between November 2021 and February 2022.
This year, the cases reappeared. Last May 11, the confirmation of a positive diagnosis for the disease led the Miguel Arraes State Hospital, in the city of Paulista, which is located in the Recife Metropolitan Region, to suspend the reception of new patients in the unit. Three days later, a patient who was admitted to a hospital in the capital of Pernambuco was also contaminated.
Since then, other people have tested positive, and make the northeastern state add, until this Wednesday, nine confirmations of contaminated Candida auris. The high lethality may even be related precisely to the fact that the fungus contaminates hospitalized patients who are already in fragile health.
According to health agencies such as the US government’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the mortality rate of those infected reaches 60%. The CDC informs that the main prevention and control measures against the superfungus are hand hygiene (wearing gloves is not enough) and cleaning and disinfection of the place where the patient is hospitalized.
