Drug-resistant superbug Candida Auris found in Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Report

A deadly hospital pathogen, the Candida Auris, has for the first time been identified in the environment off the coast of South Andaman district in the Andaman and Nicobar islands., according to a report by The Indian Express.

This study was carried out by the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, Delhi, in collaboration with the Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University.

Candida Auris is a species of fungus that grows as yeast. It is one of the few species of the genus Candida that cause candidiasis in humans. Often, candidiasis is acquired in hospitals by patients with weakened immune systems. It has attracted increased clinical attention because of its multiple drug resistance power.

First identified in 2009 in a patient in Japan, the fungus has now emerged in more than 40 countries across five continents in the last decade. Being an emerging pathogen, very little is known about the fungus so far.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 30 to 60 per cent of people with C. Auris bloodstream infections (BSI) have died. However, many of these people had other serious illnesses and conditions that also increased their risk of death.

The study sampled coastal wetlands, including rocky shores, sandy beaches, tidal marshes, and mangrove swamps around the Andaman group of islands — 48 samples of sediment soil and seawater were collected from eight sampling sites across the east and west coast of the South Andaman district. C.Auris was isolated from two of the eight sampling sites — a salt marsh and a sandy beach.

Two colonies of C.Auris were found at the salt marsh from the composite soil sediment and 22 colonies were found at the beach and these were distributed in both the sediment and water samples, establishing that the fungus is both marine and terrestrial.