A Mysterious Infection, Spanning the Globe in a Climate of Secrecy
Last May, an elderly man was admitted to
the Brooklyn branch of Mount Sinai Hospital for abdominal surgery. A
blood test revealed that he was infected with a newly discovered germ as
deadly as it was mysterious. Doctors swiftly isolated him in the
intensive care unit.
the Brooklyn branch of Mount Sinai Hospital for abdominal surgery. A
blood test revealed that he was infected with a newly discovered germ as
deadly as it was mysterious. Doctors swiftly isolated him in the
intensive care unit.
The germ, a
fungus called Candida auris, preys on people with weakened immune
systems, and it is quietly spreading across the globe. Over the last
five years, it has hit a neonatal unit in Venezuela, swept through a hospital
in Spain, forced a prestigious British medical center to shut down its
intensive care unit, and taken root in India, Pakistan and South Africa.
Recently C. auris reached New York, New Jersey
and Illinois, leading the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention to add it to a list of germs deemed “urgent threats.”