Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

38 ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE & STEWARDSHIP Deadly fungal infection may have been spurred by global warming, researchers say By Anuja Vaidya C andida auris, a deadly fungus that sprung up simultaneously on three continents, may be the first new fungal disease emerging from climate change, according to researchers from Bal- timore-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The fungus was first identified in 2009 in a human ear and has since been found across the globe. In the U.S., C. auris emerged in 2016, and there have been more than 700 cases of the infection as of May 31. The researchers stated that C. auris did not spread like other viruses do, moving from location to location, according NBC News. It popped up in several locations, includ- ing India, South Africa and South America. This led researchers to believe that its emergence may have been the result of a change in environment on earth, namely global warming. The research team conducted phylogenet- ic analysis of C. auris and compared it to different types of fungus. They found that while other fungi are unable to survive high temperatures and tend to be found only in lower temperatures, C. auris could with- stand high temperatures. This may be evidence that fungi have start- ed to adapt to survive in higher tempera- tures and can survive ins our bodies, which fungi have not been able to do previously. C. auris is able to survive in the bodies of people who are very sick. But scientists have not discovered the origin of C. auris, and as a result, the link between climate change and the emer- gence of C. auris cannot be proven. C. auris is already drug-resistant, and "if more of these organisms become tempera- ture-resistant, then we're gonna have more problems in the future," Arturo Casadevall, MD, PhD, chair of the molecular microbi- ology and immunology department at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told NBC News. n 3 things we still don't know about Candida auris By Anne-Marie Kommers T he mysterious fungus Candida auris, first identified in 2009 in Japan, is a growing global problem. It causes bacteria-like outbreaks and is highly resis- tant to antifungal drugs. STAT outlined the most pressing research questions confounding scientists, who say there's a critical need for answers. ree things we still don't know about C. auris: 1. Where does it come from? Most fungi are found in a variety of places, but C. auris has so far only been found in people. It must occur somewhere in nature, according to Tom Chiller, MD, chief of mycotic diseases at the CDC. Finding its origin could help scientists control it. 2. How do different clones of the fungus appear all over the globe in a very short time? Several different countries have reported C. auris cases since its 2009 discovery, but gene sequencing has revealed that the disease varies widely by country. C. auris in South Africa looks and behaves differently from C. auris in South America or Asia, suggesting that it is not travelers who are spreading the disease. 3. How did it become so powerfully resistant to antifungal drugs? Hospital patients in a 2016 London outbreak developed resistance to an entire class of antifungal drugs in just a month, "which is just unheard of," according to Johanna Rhodes, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London who studies the fungus. n HHS, DOD boost superbug fight with $97M investment: 4 things to know By Mackenzie Bean F ederal officials upped their fight against superbugs with a $97 mil- lion investment into antibiotic development. Four things to know: 1. HHS and the U.S. Department of Defense partnered with VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals to develop an antibiotic that can treat highly resistant infections, such as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. 2. VenatoRx has an antibiotic candidate that has shown promise against antibiotic-resistant infections when combined with cefepime, an an- tibiotic already on the market. The combination could be used as an intravenous treatment for drug-resistant gram-negative infections. 3. HHS' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority will offer up to $20.7 million over two years to fund the drug's development through a cost-sharing agreement. Funding may be expanded to $86.8 million over six years. 4. The DOD's Defense Threat Reduction Agency will also provide $10 million to fund research into whether the antibiotic candidate could protect against biothreat bacterial pathogens. n

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