Five cases of highly contagious fungus reported at UK HealthCare

LEXINGTON, Ky. (KT) – Officials with UK HealthCare reported on Tuesday they currently have five cases of patients with the fungus Candida auris, which is isolated to one floor at UK Chandler Hospital in Lexington.

According to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Candida auris (or C. auris) is a type of yeast fungus that can cause severe illness and spreads easily among patients in healthcare facilities. It is often resistant to antifungal treatments, which means that the medications that are designed to kill the fungus and stop infections do not work.

The CDC says C. auris mostly affects patients with severe underlying medical conditions requiring complex medical care. Patients with invasive medical devices like breathing tubes, feeding tubes, catheters in a vein, or urinary catheters tend to be at increased risk for getting C. auris and developing an infection. Healthy people without these risk factors, including healthcare workers and family members, have a low risk of infection.

In a statement, UK HealthCare says, “Currently all cases have the fungus on their skin, but it is not causing an active infection and there are no active infections with Candida auris at UK HealthCare.  Our team quickly identified the pathogen and began isolation and disinfection precautions to prevent further transmission.  Candida auris is a type off-fungus that can be resistant to multiple antimicrobials and is responsible for outbreaks in health care facilities across the globe.”

UK Healthcare reporting no active infections is very important, because the CDC notes active infections can be serious. “More than 1 in 3 patients with invasive C. auris infection (for example, an infection that affects the blood, heart, or brain) die,” the CDC states.

The CDC has been tracking Candida Auris since it was first reported to reach the United States in 2013. Through 2022, the Kentucky Department for Public Health has reported 29 cases to the CDC, 22 of them during the past 12 months.

Looking at our neighboring states between 2013 and 2022, Illinois has reported 1,044 cases, Indiana 177, Ohio 111, Virginia 62, Tennessee 8, Missouri 2 and none reported in West Virginia.

UK HealthCare says they are steadfast in the surveillance and identification of infections and the implementation of interventional and prevention strategies to contain and help prevent reoccurrence and transmission of diseases; and has a dedicated Infection Prevention and Control team that monitors infections and the possibility of outbreaks that could become a threat to public health.