Pathogen with adhesive power

In 2009, a previously unknown yeast fungus was discovered in Japan that had colonised the ear canal of a 70-year-old female patient. It was named Candida auris (lat. auris = ear) after the place where it was found. The fungus, which can also affect other parts of the body, has since spread worldwide. The US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has labelled the spread of the pathogen as alarming for various reasons: the fungus is multiresistant, it spreads easily from person to person and it can cause serious infections that are often fatal.

From 2013 to 2021, there were around 1800 reported Candida auris infections in Europe, most of them in Spain, Italy and the UK. In the majority of patients, the fungal colonisations were harmless, but a quarter suffered blood poisoning or other serious infections. In Germany, fewer than 50 cases of Candida auris have been reported to date. The patients had brought the fungus with them from travelling to risk areas; in only one case had the fungus been transmitted from person to person in hospital.

Candida auris colonises the skin and mucous membranes, including the ears, hands, nose, armpits, groin, throat and wounds as well as the intestines, respiratory tract and urinary tract. Infection poses a particular risk to immunocompromised patients, those with serious preexisting conditions or chronic illnesses. Even if the number of cases has so far been limited, experts consider the spread to be worrying. This is because if the fungus enters the bloodstream, the infection is fatal in 30 to 60 per cent of cases. Only a few antimycotics are available for treatment. The resistance rate to fluconazole is already over 80 per cent. Also, the infection often no longer responds to the echinocandins drug class. Such multiresistance, which is common in bacteria, is rather unusual in fungi. Experts therefore advise increased vigilance, but also emphasise that the fungus poses no danger to healthy people.