1st for Louisiana: Drug-resistant fungus found at hospital

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A hospital in New Orleans says it has identified two patients infected with a rare, drug-resistant fungus — the first time it's been found in Louisiana.

Candida auris has already been found in Washington, D.C., and at least 20 other states including Georgia, Florida and Texas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The fungus is a harmful form of yeast that can be resistant to the most common antifungal drugs.

The CDC considers it an emerging global threat and says it is especially dangerous to hospital and nursing home patients with serious medical problems.

Although the patients at University Medical Center are the first known in Louisiana, other undetected cases are likely, Dr. Nirav Patel, chief medical officer told The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate.

“This bug could have been here in Louisiana for quite some time,” he said, noting outbreaks in Florida, where 135 cases have been reported, and Texas, with 30.

More than 1,100 cases had been diagnosed nationwide as of Aug. 21, according to the CDC. California had reported 245 cases, Illinois 243, New York 235, and New Jersey 70.

The CDC says people apparently most at risk are those who have been in a health care facility a long time and have a line or tube into the body, such as a breathing tube, feeding tube or central venous catheter. It can cause infections in the bloodstream or in wounds.

The hospital, citing patient privacy, did not answer the newspaper's questions about whether its infected patients had recently been transferred from other health care centers, when the infections were identified or whether the patients had a history of international travel.

But it’s likely more cases will follow, said Dr. Alfred Luk, medical director of transplant infectious...