By 2021, that had increased by 200% to around 1,500. Despite the fact that 2022's figures were left out of the analysis, a CDC website stated that 2,377 cases were reported in 2017. According to the CDC website, C. auris is currently present in more than half of the states in the country, with the biggest concentrations occurring in Nevada, Florida, California, Texas, Illinois, and New York. Concerningly, C. auris patients frequently die: According to the CDC, nearly half of individuals who contract the infection pass away. Nevertheless, researchers recognize they are unable to pinpoint the fungus directly as the primary cause of mortality because those who pass away frequently have other health problems. Moreover, the fungus has a high level of resistance to many medication classes, including echinocandins. According to the Times, health officials warn that "C. auris could become extremely difficult, if not impossible, to cure" if echinocandin resistance spreads as the germ matures.
Although COVID received more attention and resources during the pandemic, and as medical practitioners' personal protective equipment—to which C. auris clings—was changed out less frequently because of shortages, researchers think the fungal infection may have been worse. Despite all of this, there has been success made in halting the spread of the fungus in New York and Illinois, so the struggle against it is not yet over. In addition, patients who catch the illness are often "very unwell individuals," according to Dr. Waleed Javaid, an epidemiology at Mount Sinai. We don't want viewers of The Last of Us to believe that everyone will perish, he says NBC.
