--- title: Deadly Fungal Infections Are Increasing in U.S. Hospitals description: In 2021, national cases reported by health care facilities increased by 95%. Here's what to know. canonical: https://time.com/6264661/fungal-infection-candida-auris-hospitals/ author: Haley Weiss article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-03-20T21:17:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T15:36:42.456Z article:section: Health og:title: Deadly Fungal Infections Are Increasing in U.S. Hospitals og:description: Candida auris infections reported by health care facilities rose by 95% in 2021. og:url: https://time.com/6264661/fungal-infection-candida-auris-hospitals/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5502e7e9d2b3635/698a3b47e6e84a82722afec5/GettyImages-1088373666.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Candida auris fungi, illustration og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Deadly Fungal Infections Are Increasing in U.S. Hospitals twitter:description: Candida auris infections reported by health care facilities rose by 95% in 2021. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5502e7e9d2b3635/698a3b47e6e84a82722afec5/GettyImages-1088373666.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Deadly Fungal Infections in U.S. Hospitals Are Up 95% ## Video: The New U.N. Climate Report Has Arrived. Resist the Urge to Despair [Watch (HLS stream): The New U.N. Climate Report Has Arrived. Resist the Urge to Despair](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LJ0BtZQg.m3u8) (4:47)  _Published 2023-03-20. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a behemoth report on our warming world—something it has done routinely for three decades. Though the findings have evolved considerably over the years, the news cycle is always strikingly similar: World leaders offer bombastic soundbites, and headlines warn of impending doom. In turn, many people will interpret this report as a stark warning that humans are joy-riding down the highway to hell._  by [Haley Weiss](/author/haley-weiss/)  ## Haley Weiss Mar 20, 2023 9:17 PM CUT  An illustration of Candida auris fungi. An illustration of Candida auris fungi.Science Photo Library—Getty Images  by [Haley Weiss](/author/haley-weiss/)  ## Haley Weiss Mar 20, 2023 9:17 PM CUT The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is tracking the rise of a deadly, treatment-resistant fungus that’s causing outbreaks in a growing number of health care facilities across the country. New data compiled by a CDC research team, published Mar. 21 in [_Annals of Internal Medicine_](https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M22-3469 "undefined"), show that _Candida auris_ infections have increased dramatically in the U.S. in recent years. In 2021, national cases reported by health care facilities increased by 95%, and from 2019 to 2021, 17 states reported their first case. With infections recorded in a total of 28 states and the District of Columbia, these numbers suggest that current disinfection and safety measures at care facilities may not be sufficient. Experts do not currently view _C. auris_ as much of a threat to the wider population, since most healthy people are not at risk for severe infections, which tend to spread in hospital settings. But there are fears that it could someday evolve to become one. The first U.S. case of _C. auris_ infection was reported in 2016, and though travel later brought it to a number of states, “early on, we weren’t seeing such such a dramatic increase,” says Meghan Lyman, a medical officer in the CDC’s mycotic diseases branch and first author on the paper. “That gave us some hope.” Things changed in 2019, she says, when an influx of states reporting outbreaks made it clear that the threat was here to stay. “We’ve realized it’s just a really fragile situation.” A [2022 study](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/antimicrobial-stewardship/candida-auris-cases-rising-europe-survey-finds "undefined") described a concurrent increase in European outbreaks, and the [CDC says that](https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/candida-auris/candida-auris-qanda.html "undefined") infections have occurred in more than 30 countries worldwide since the fungus first emerged in Japan in 2009\. **Read More:** [_Deadly Fungal Infection Emerged Because of Global Warming, Study Says_](https://time.com/5632961/candida-auris-global-warming/ "undefined") --- ### More from TIME --- The new findings may also reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, eight states reported their first cases of _C. auris_, more than in any other year. CDC scientists believe that crowded conditions in hospitals—particularly those facing shortages of staff, equipment, and PPE—contributed to the spread of the fungus. Infections are rare but serious—[mortality rates are about 30%](https://academic.oup.com/cid/article-abstract/76/3/e1436/6691839?redirectedFrom=fulltext "undefined")—and symptoms can include fever and chills, followed by organ failure. Most fungal infections, both mild and serious, are caused by one of the hundreds of types of _Candida_ yeasts. Some types of _Candida_ live peacefully within our bodies—a yeast infection, for instance, is simply an overgrowth of one of these helpful species. _C. auris_ is one of the more dangerous types, but for most healthy people, the fungus will temporarily colonize the skin without causing any illness or issues; without testing, you’d likely never know it was there. This type of colonization often resolves naturally, thanks to existing fungi in the normal skin flora that eventually rebalance and take over. The danger arises when _C. auris_ finds a way into the body through a wound or other opening, particularly if somebody is weakened or immunocompromised. This helps explain why the CDC’s data come almost entirely from health care settings. Another factor is that people who are already in these settings are more likely to be tested for it, following a bad infection or death. “When the first case pops up, often it’s a clinical case, because people might not be looking for it,” explains Lyman. If you’re headed to the hospital and fearful of infection, “you can always ask, as soon as you enter, if they’re screening for _C. auris_,” says Johanna Rhodes, a researcher at Imperial College London (who was not involved with the study). In an ideal world, she says, hospitals would be screening all patients upon entry. While no state yet requires hospitals to test this thoroughly, several have either [recommended](https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/candidiasis/auris/hcp/screen.html "undefined") it or undertaken [county-level projects ](http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/acd/Diseases/CandidaAuris.htm "undefined")to make widespread screening more feasible. Most fungi capable of infecting humans pose threats to certain body systems. Some can infect the lungs, others the skin, and some even seem to affect [mental health](https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0011136 "undefined"). This particular species of _Candida_ affects the bloodstream, and infections like those caused by _C. auris_, “are similar to sepsis,” explains Rhodes. “But it’s harder to treat.” _C. auris_ is resistant to antifungal medications, which makes it unique among fungi. “If you look across all species of _Candida_, only about 7% of all isolates \[individual cell samples trapped and regrown in a lab\] are resistant to antifungals,” says Shawn Lockhart, director of the CDC’s fungal reference laboratory and an author on the paper. “Now, all of a sudden, we’ve got this bug where 85-90% of all isolates are resistant.” **Read More**: [_Why Fungi Can Be Good_](https://time.com/6256252/fungi-science-the-last-of-us/ "undefined") Generally, a drug-resistant fungus can evade one of the the three major types of antifungal medications. But _C. auris_ is pan-resistant, which means that all three treatments are weakened or ineffective against it. Scientists have also tracked the drug resistance of _C. auris_ over time, and the fungus has evolved dramatically in a short period of time—which worries experts. “I can only think of one other report of a pan-resistant _Candida_,” he says. “The difference is that it was never resistant to all three antifungals at the same time.” _C. auris_ also has an unusual ability to stick around. The fungus is able to form biofilms, explains Rhodes, “which is essentially like having a suit of armor or Iron Man suit. It allows it to persist in the environment—it makes it super sticky to surfaces, and it can resist disinfectant.” In a [2015 study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5069812/ "undefined"), Rhodes found that _C. auris_ was resistant to most of the disinfectants used by the U.K.’s National Health System at the time, and pushed for recommendations to be adjusted. This “stickiness” allows _C. auris_ to cling to medical equipment like ventilators and catheters in a way that other infectious agents can’t. To help reverse the rise of the fungus, the first step should be to find a way to reduce the amount of _C. auris_ that patients harbor, Lockhart says.“The key is getting the colonization low enough so that it’s not transmitting to other patients, to protect the people who are most at risk.” Doing this requires minimizing spread in the first place, which she says can be done by adequately maintaining sterile hospital environments and cleaning procedures. Lyman is confident that measures can be taken to slow the spread and reduce case numbers in the U.S. “We’ve actually seen a lot of facilities in areas that have prevented and even stopped transmission,” she says. The key, she says, will be “really rigorous infection control and good communication.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6264661/fungal-infection-candida-auris-hospitals/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6264661/fungal-infection-candida-auris-hospitals/"},"headline":"Deadly Fungal Infections in U.S. Hospitals Are Up 95%","datePublished":"2023-03-20T21:17:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T15:36:42.456Z","description":"Candida auris infections reported by U.S. health care facilities rose by 95% in 2021.","url":"https://time.com/6264661/fungal-infection-candida-auris-hospitals/","keywords":["Disease","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5502e7e9d2b3635/698a3b47e6e84a82722afec5/GettyImages-1088373666.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Haley Weiss","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/haley-weiss/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5502e7e9d2b3635/698a3b47e6e84a82722afec5/GettyImages-1088373666.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Candida auris fungi, illustration","caption":"illustration of Candida auris fungi","creditText":"Science Photo Library—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/disease/","name":"Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6264661/fungal-infection-candida-auris-hospitals/","name":"Deadly Fungal Infections in U.S. Hospitals Are Up 95%"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The New U.N. 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