Dangerous fungus spreading in US hospitals has 'rapidly increased'

In March 2023, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported more than 4,000 new clinical cases of C. auris, dubbing it an "urgent antimicrobial (AR) threat."

The fungus can be resistant to multiple antifungal drugs and can cause "life-threatening illness."

A new study published in the American Journal of Infection Control on March 17 analyzed clinical cultures of C. auris across the U.S. collected from 2019 to 2023.

The number of clinical cultures increased by 580% from 2019 to 2020, by 251% in 2021, by 46% in 2022, and by 7% in 2023.

"The volumes of clinical cultures with C. auris have rapidly increased, accompanied by an expansion in the sources of infection," concluded the researchers, primarily from the University of Miami.

JoAnna Wagner with the Georgia Department of Public Health shared with local ABC News affiliate WJCL that Georgia, one of the impacted states, has detected more than 1,300 cases as of the end of February.

Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone, considers C. auris an "emerging problem of great concern," he told Fox News Digital.

"Major research" is ongoing to develop new treatments, according to Siegel.

"This is part of a much larger problem of emerging antibiotic resistance in the U.S. and around the world," the physician cautioned.

"At the same time, sterilization and disinfection measures in hospitals can be very helpful."

Healthcare facilities in Georgia are reportedly using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-certified cleaners designed to attack the fungus.

Fox News Digital reached out to the lead study author and the Georgia Department of Public Health for comment.