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yesterday

Drug-Resistant Fungus C. Auris Spreads in European Hospitals, ECDC Warns

Patchy surveillance likely hides many cases, prompting calls for earlier detection, tighter hospital controls, possible mandatory reporting.

Der Hefepilz Candidozyma auris (früher bekannt als Candida auris) in einer Petrischale, aufgenommen in einem Labor der Universität in Würzburg.
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Overview

  • ECDC data show more than 4,000 EU/EEA cases from 2013 to 2023, including 1,346 in 2023, with Spain, Greece, Italy and Romania reporting the most cases.
  • Germany recorded 120 cases over the decade, 77 of them in 2023, yet experts there describe individual patient risk as low.
  • The organism persists on dry surfaces and medical devices and transmits via direct or indirect contact rather than through the air.
  • Frequent resistance to common antifungals makes treatment challenging, and bloodstream infections in already ill patients can be life-threatening.
  • The ECDC and national experts urge early detection, rapid isolation and environmental decontamination, with discussion in Germany of introducing mandatory reporting.