A super fungus that has prompted urgent warnings in the US has made its way to New Zealand.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) said New Zealand has recently detected one case of Candida auris, which was acquired overseas.
"We are aware of a rising number of cases of Candida auris overseas, including in the United States, and are monitoring the situation closely," the ministry said in a statement.
"Infections from Candida auris occur mainly in patients who have spent a long time in aged residential homes or hospitals and have invasive medical devices entering their body such as intravenous lines, urinary catheters, or have previously received some antibiotics or other anti-fungal medicines."
Candida auris was first detected overseas in 2009 and has steadily increased in number since then. However, the fungus has recently made global headlines after research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found cases in the US have been rapidly increasing since 2019 from a couple hundred to thousands of infections.
The US government agency Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has called Candida auris an "urgent threat" because it is often multidrug-resistant, easily spreads through healthcare facilities and can cause deadly disease. It is also resistant to some common disinfectants and can be carried on people's skin without causing symptoms, facilitating its spread to others.
Prominent University of Otago epidemiologist Michael Baker told Newshub earlier this week the fungus is generally a "hospital-acquired infection" and once it gets into a healthcare facility it is hard to get rid of.
"It's hard to disinfect because you have to use very effective cleaning methods to get it out of the healthcare facility once it's in there so that makes it difficult," Dr Baker said.
"Once it's in there it often moves between facilities… So it needs very good infection control processes to stop its spread."
The MoH said hospitals in New Zealand currently have good infection prevention and control measures in place to minimise spread, including guidelines for healthcare workers on preventing infections when inserting medical devices.
Symptoms of Candida auris vary depending on the infected part of the body, but common signs include persistent fever and chills.
The MoH advises anyone who has recently spent time in a hospital overseas and has any of these symptoms, to contact your doctor or your iwi health provider, or call Healthline on 0800 611 116 for free advice. If you or anyone in your whānau is seriously ill, call 111 for emergency help.
