Johns Hopkins Until recently, most fungal infections did not pose a significant threat to human health. Our advanced immune system and hot body temperature created an inhospitable environment for fungi, which mostly infected hospitalized patients or those taking immunosuppressive medication.
But over the past 10 years, the fungus Candida auris has emerged independently on three continents, suggesting that it may be the first fungus to have adapted to survive hotter temperatures. And last year, scientists in Singapore identified a new variant of this fungus, which the WHO has now labeled a “critical pathogen.”
In this Q&A, adapted from the August 26 episode of Public Health On Call, Arturo Casadevall, MD, PhD, MS, chair of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, discusses the rise of Candida auris with Stephanie Desmond, co-author of his book What If Fungi Win?