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What is superfungi? How to prevent superfungi

What is superfungi? How to prevent superfungi

4hw.com.cn: Recently, super fungi have aroused heated discussion. Listening to the name makes people feel scared. So what is super fungi? How to prevent super fungi? Let's have a look.

According to the New York Times, a 'super fungus' called Candida auriculata has erupted in many places in the United States. At present, there are 587 confirmed cases in the United States. The fungus caused patients' mysterious infection 'and was listed as an' emergency threat 'by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly 50% of infected people died within 90 days. Yesterday, Chinese media announced that 18 cases of super fungal infection were confirmed in China.

'Super fungi 'related topics once appeared on the microblog hot search list. Many netizens expressed concern in their messages: 'it's terrible. What should we pay attention to?' fear! How should ordinary people protect themselves? "

The reporter learned that the reason why Candida is called 'super fungus' is that it has strong drug resistance, high mortality after blood infection and long survival time in the environment.

Candida auralis was first found in Japan in 2009, and then it became popular all over the world. According to the official website of CDC of the United States, at present, cases of ear Candida infection have been found in more than 30 countries and regions around the world, including China, Japan, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, India, etc.

Although it has been studied for nearly a decade, the source of Candida auralis is still unclear. Scholars at home and abroad still have limited understanding of the pathogenicity, the formation and rapid evolution of drug resistance of Candida auralis.

The CDC official website of the United States mentioned in the description of Candida auriculata that Candida auriculata is an emerging fungus, which poses a serious threat to global health; It is a drug-resistant bacterium transmitted in medical institutions, which is still rare in the United States; Candida can cause blood infection and even death. More than one-third of invasive infections (such as blood, heart or brain infections) will die within one month.

Most of the 18 infected people in China appeared in ICU

The first case of 'super fungus' infection in China was found last year. It was a 76 year old patient with nephrotic syndrome and hypertension.

In May 2018, a team led by Professor Wang Hui of the people's Hospital of Peking University and researcher Huang Guanghua of the State Key Laboratory of mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences reported the first case of 'super fungus' infection in China through cooperative research.

The study found that the first Candida strains in China are generally sensitive to commonly used antifungal drugs, which means that the existing antibiotics can kill 'super fungi'. In addition, it is also found that copper sulfate has a strong growth inhibitory effect on 'super fungi', which provides a new method for disinfection and sterilization in hospitals.

An expert who has long studied Candida in the ear told reporters that 18 cases of infection were found in China, including 3 cases in Beijing and 15 cases in Shenyang. Most of the infected people appeared in the ICU (intensive care unit) of medical institutions.

He reminded the public that there is no need to panic. Healthy people will not be infected with Candida, and immunodeficient people may be affected.

However, he also pointed out that most medical institutions in China do not have the conditions to diagnose ear Candida and may not be able to accurately identify it. CDC of the United States also said that unless there is a special laboratory in the medical institution, Candida albicans may be misdiagnosed as other fungi, and this wrong diagnosis may lead to the wrong treatment of patients.

Explanation 1: 'super fungi' have no effect on healthy people and do not need to be prevented

Experts pointed out that the reason why Candida auriculata is called 'super fungus' is that first, Candida auriculata has strong drug resistance, and some Candida auriculata strains are resistant to the three types of antifungal drugs commonly used in clinic (including azole, polyene and echinomycin drugs). Second, the death rate of blood infection is high.

In addition, it has a long survival time in the environment and can survive on the skin of patients and medical staff and the surface of hospital facilities for a long time, resulting in explosive infection in the hospital. " For example, if a patient in the ward is infected, Candida albicans can be transmitted to other patients through bed sheets, medical devices or other ways. A typical example in the UK is the cross infection between patients caused by Candida in the ear through a thermometer. " Experts say.

What symptoms will the patient have after infection? Can it be cured? Experts told reporters that, in fact, people infected with Candida auralis are people in ICU ward, and the symptoms of infection are ultimately organ failure.

Experts pointed out that the first case of ear Candida strain found in China was sensitive to antifungal drugs, and commonly used antifungal drugs were effective. The infection cases found in Shenyang have strong tolerance to fluconazole (a commonly used antifungal drug), but are sensitive to other antifungal drugs. The treatment with other drugs will soon have an effect. From the situation abroad, only a small number of Candida strains are resistant to all drugs, so it is difficult to treat them.

In addition, from the perspective of 'lethality', the study found that the toxicity of 'super fungus' Chinese isolates was weaker than that of clinically common Candida albicans.

Is there any way to avoid infection? Experts said that because the discovery time of ear Candida is not long and there are few researchers, its source is not clear. There are few patients found in China and there is no basis for epidemiological investigation, so there are few studies. At present, some foreign researchers believe that Candida auralis is a symbiotic bacterium carried by the human body, which may exist in the skin or intestine. But where it exists is unclear.

However, experts remind that Candida albicans can only infect people with immune deficiency, mainly people in ICU Wards. Healthy people will not be infected, 'it has no impact on healthy people, and there is no need to prevent it.'

Explanation 2: the number of infected people in the world is increasing

In view of the global explosive epidemic of 'super fungi', experts said that from the overall trend, the number of infected people in the world is indeed increasing, which can be called explosive epidemic.

He further explained that in the years after the discovery of the first infected person in 2009, there were not many new cases. However, since 2013, there have been many infection cases in India. By 2015 and 2016, the United States, Europe and India began to report cases on a large scale. Unlike the previous sporadic cases, sometimes dozens of people were infected in a hospital. Because Western disease control departments pay more attention to these problems, they believe that this is a new species beginning to spread on a large scale.

Is China facing the same problem? " China is hard to say now. " He reminded that the current problem is that many domestic hospitals do not know enough about Candida, and the detection conditions are insufficient, resulting in missed detection.

"It is difficult to detect Candida by conventional detection methods. Some top three hospitals with better conditions have protein mass spectrometry technology and more advanced microbial detection instruments, which can detect Candida." However, he also pointed out that now the disinfection measures in ICU of domestic hospitals are in place. If the hospitals operate according to specifications, it is unlikely to have an explosive epidemic. If there is an infected person, immediately isolate and disinfect the ward, and there is no big problem.

Explanation 3: the emergence of 'super fungi' is affected by multiple factors

Is the emergence of 'super fungi' related to antibiotic abuse? Experts pointed out that at present, scholars at home and abroad have not found how Candida auralis appears, but it is generally related to human lifestyle and medical treatment. Because before the 1950s, Candida infections were relatively few, and later became more and more.

He said that ear Candida and other Candida infections are increasing for roughly the same reasons. First, there are more and more people with immune deficiency. With the progress of medical technology, people's life expectancy is prolonged, and the immune function becomes weaker after old age. Moreover, the application of new medical technologies such as cancer chemotherapy makes the immune system defective. In addition, the AIDS epidemic is also one of the causes of fungal infection. The extensive use of antibiotics in clinic also has an impact.