Costa Rica Hospital Isolates a Patient Carrying Dangerous Fungus

The Calderón Guardia hospital has isolated a patient carrying a dangerous fungus. Protocols have been activated for disinfection of areas the patient was in as to not put other patients at risk.

The patient is in stable condition but has been diagnosed with the candida auris fungus, one that is highly resistant to drugs. This fungus enters the bloodstream and can cause severe infections, especially in those with weakened immune systems.

The fungus was first described in 2009 in a patient from South Korea. It is able to persist in the environment and can survive on inanimate surfaces. Even many of the disinfectants used are not effective against it. Some hospitals have closed rooms for months because of this.

In the United States, almost half of the patients who contract the fungus die within 90 days. Some of these were already hospitalized for other causes and had weakened immune systems so the fungus was not necessarily the cause of death.