A?scary hospital superbug that has been wreaking havoc in hospitals around the world has now been spotted in the wild for the very first time, that too in India¡¯s Andaman and Nicobar Islands.?
Indian researchers have discovered a superbug fungus called Candida auris (study published in mBio) on a beach and tidal swamp in the remote coastal wetland ecosystem. The discovery for the first time was made in a natural habitat, as opposed to hospitals where it is normally seen.
The reason Candida auris is considered dangerous as when it enters the bloodstream it causes severe infections. However, what makes it more dangerous is that it is resistant to antifungal drugs that otherwise work easily on the Candida family of funguses. It mostly affects people with weakened immune systems in a hospital and gives the person 30 to 60 percent chances of survival.?
The superbug was first discovered in the 1990s, but it was only named in 2009 after it was spotted in a 70-year old Japanese woman, and today it is known to be rapidly spreading across the world.?
For this study, Anuradha Chowdhary at the University of Delhi and her team analysed 48 samples of soil and water from eight different locations on the Andaman Islands. The island, due to its remote location and presence of indigenous tribes doesn¡¯t see that many visitors, which resulted in fewer impacts of direct human activities on the fungus¡¯s functioning.?
Researchers isolated samples from two specific locations -- one from a bay tidal salt marsh wetland and the other from a beach -- as the remaining samples tested negative for the notorious fungus.?
The one from the tidal salt marsh showed two isolates, from which one was multidrug susceptible. On the other hand, the beach (which did see a few human visitors) saw 22 isolates, all of which were multidrug-resistant. Further analysis revealed that these isolates were related to pathogenic strains discovered in Southeast Asia.?
Researchers state in their paper, ¡°The fact that viable C. auris was detected in the marine habitat confirms C. auris survival in harsh wetlands. However, the ecological significance of C. auris in salt marsh wetland and sandy beaches to human infections remains to be explored.¡±