New York State Health

Commissioner Issues High Alert

for Deadly Fungus (Mold)
by admin | May 11, 2017 | Government Research, The Plague

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New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker today

issued a statewide health advisory to all hospitals and nursing homes
in New York City to be on high alert of readiness for Candida auris, or
C. auris, a fungal infection that has become increasingly resistant to
treatments and can cause severe illness in patients with serious
underlying medical conditions.
“It is important for New Yorkers to understand C. auris poses no risk to
the general public,” said Dr. Howard Zucker. “C. auris is an
opportunistic infection which primarily impacts patients who are
already ill for other reasons. Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership
we’re taking aggressive actions to contain its spread in hospitals and
nursing homes.”
First identified in Japan in 2009, C. auris has now been identified as
the cause of reported infections in more than a dozen countries, and
six states, including New York. Cases in New York are primarily
concentrated among hospital patients and nursing home residents in
New York City.
C. auris can be spread in healthcare settings through contact with
contaminated surfaces or equipment, or from physical contact with a
person who is infected or colonized. Most C. aurisinfections are
treatable with a class of antifungal drugs such as echinocandins.
Infection control, including good hand washing and hygiene, and
personal protective equipment is key to prevention.
Today’s health advisory reinforces guidance issued by the Department
of Health on August 17, 2016 and November 3, 2016 encouraging
enhanced surveillance for the identification and reporting of C. auris
cases, and stressing the importance of proper infection control
practices. When C. auris is identified or suspected, the Department
requires that the patients be isolated or cohorted in single rooms. It
also requires facilities to maintain adequate supplies of personal
protective equipment, and EPA-registered surface disinfectant to
apply with DOH and CDC approved cleaning and disinfecting
techniques.
Additionally the Department is taking the following actions:
 Requiring clinical staff in all New York City hospitals and nursing
homes to participate in a webinar to review infection control and
environmental cleaning requirements.
 Conducting on-site audits of all hospitals and nursing homes in
Brooklyn and Queens to assess compliance with infection control
requirements.
 Testing clinical and environmental samples for C. auris at the State’s
Wadsworth Laboratory.
 Convening a roundtable with healthcare leadership to discuss
advisory guidelines, infection control and C. auris response.
As of May 5, 2017, there have been 53 clinical cases in New York
State, with an additional 18 screening cases. Screening cases indicate
a patient who has been found to be colonized with the infection, but
not showing clinical symptoms. There have been 20 deaths among
cases, but all patients had serious underlying medical conditions and it
is difficult to attribute any deaths specifically to C. auris. Cases have
been concentrated among hospital patients and nursing home
residents in the New York City area, with one patient in Rochester
who had previously been treated in a New York City facility.