As Candida auris spreads, scientist highlights growing threat of antifungal resistance
As cases of the potentially deadly drug-resistant fungal infection Candida auris have spread to 27 states, including Texas, which has the second-highest number, a scientist at UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio, warns that strains resistant to frontline antifungal medications are becoming an increasingly urgent global problem.
As Candida auris, a potentially deadly drug-resistant fungal infection, continues to spread to 27 states including Texas, which has the second-highest number of cases, a scientist at UT Health San Antonio warns that strains resistant to frontline antifungal medications are becoming an increasingly urgent global problem. Nathan Wiederhold, PharmD, director of the Fungus Testing Laboratory and professor at UT Health San Antonio, contributed to a commentary in Nature Medicine highlighting the growing global concern of antifungal resistance.
Fungal infections are often overlooked due to their rarity, but they can be more difficult to diagnose and treat, and the emergence of resistance is making serious infections increasingly difficult to treat. Antifungal resistance occurs when fungal species develop the ability to survive treatments that once eliminated them, and environmental exposure to antifungal and agricultural fungicides can contribute to this issue, making it a "One Health" problem that requires collaboration across human, animal, and plant sectors.
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