Drug-Resistant Superbug C. auris Spreading in Hudson Valley
A drug-resistant "superbug" that is often fatal is continuing to spread across New York State at alarming rates.
Candida auris, also called C. auris, is a fungus that causes serious infections. The New York State Department of Health calls the superbug "an emerging multidrug-resistant yeast."
Public health authorities in several countries have reported that C. auris has caused severe illness in hospitalized patients. Infections caused by C. auris often do not respond to commonly used antifungal drugs, making them difficult to treat, officials say.
According to the CDC, antifungal medicines commonly used to treat Candida infections often don’t work for Candida auris. Some C. auris infections have been resistant to all three types of antifungal medicines.
As of Nov. 18, 428 sick New Yorkers were confirmed to have C. auris during clinical care. As of Oct 29, the CDC reports there are 836 cases in at least 13 states, with New York seeing the most cases.
Candida auris can cause bloodstream infections and even death, particularly in hospital and nursing home patients with serious medical problems. Over 33 percent of patients with invasive Candida auris infection die, the CDC reports.
Last week, the CDC referred to the drug-resistant fungus as an "urgent threat."
"The fungus has only recently emerged as a deadly germ," Dr. Redfield said. "To underscore the challenge we are facing, we don't know exactly why this organism all of a sudden appeared really on a global scale. That's unusual. Usually, we see an outbreak, and we define it and then there's gradual spread. So that's an area that we continue to try to better understand," CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield told ABC.
Doctors report 33 percent of patients Candida auris will die, according to ABC.
Most who get Candida infections are often already sick from other medical conditions. The most common symptoms of invasive Candida infection are fever and chills that don’t improve after antibiotic treatment for a suspected bacterial infection. Only a laboratory test can diagnose an infection.
Below is a list of hospitals in the Hudson Valley and across New York that have treated people for Candida auris or colonization, as of June 28:
Orange County
- Orange Regional Medical Center - 0699
Dutchess County
- Vassar Brothers Medical Center - 0181
Westchester County
- S&H - St. John's Division - 1097
- Westchester Medical Center - 1139
Rockland County
- Good Samaritan Hospital of Suffern - 0779
- Helen Hayes Hospital - 0775
- Montefiore Nyack - 0776
New York County (Manhattan)
- Bellevue Hospital Center - 1438
- Harlem Hospital Center - 1445
- Henry J. Carter Specialty Hospital - 1486
- Lenox Hill Hospital - 1450
- Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases - 1453
- Metropolitan Hospital Center - 1454
- Mount Sinai Beth Israel - 1439
- Mount Sinai Hospital - 1456
- Mount Sinai West - 1466
- New York Presbyterian Hospital - Allen Hospital - 3975
- New York Presbyterian Hospital - Columbia Presbyterian Center - 1464
- New York Presbyterian Hospital - New York Weill Cornell Center - 1458
- New York-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital - 1437
- NYU Langone Hospitals - 1463
- NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital - 1446
Queens County (Queens)
- Elmhurst Hospital Center - 1626
- Flushing Hospital Medical Center - 1628
- Jamaica Hospital Medical Center - 1629
- Long Island Jewish Forest Hills - 1638
- Long Island Jewish Medical Center - 1630
- Mount Sinai Hospital - Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens - 1639
- New York-Presbyterian/Queens - 1637
- Queens Hospital Center - 1633
- St. John's Episcopal Hospital So Shore - 1635
King County (Brooklyn)
- Brookdale Hospital Medical Center - 1286
- Brooklyn Hospital Center - Downtown Campus - 1288
- Calvary Hospital Inc (Brooklyn Campus) - 1175
- Coney Island Hospital - 1294
- Interfaith Medical Center - 1309
- Kings County Hospital Center - 1301
- Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center - 1315
- Maimonides Medical Center - 1305
- Mount Sinai Brooklyn - 1324
- New York Community Hospital of Brooklyn, Inc - 1293
- New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital - 1306
- NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn - 1304
- University Hospital of Brooklyn - 1320
- Woodhull Medical & Mental Health Center - 1692
- Wyckoff Heights Medical Center - 1318
Bronx County (Bronx)
- BronxCare Hospital Center (Concourse) - 1178
- Calvary Hospital Inc (Bronx Campus) - 1175
- Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center - 1172
- Montefiore Med Center - Jack D Weiler Hosp of A Einstein College Div - 3058
- Montefiore Medical Center - Henry and Lucy Moses Div - 1169
- Montefiore Medical Center - Wakefield Hospital - 1168
- S&H Health System - 1176
Richmond County (Staten Island)
- Richmond University Medical Center - 1738
- Staten Island University Hosp - North - 1740
- Staten Island University Hosp - South - 1737
Nassau County
- North Shore University Hospital - 0541
- Glen Cove Hospital - 0490
- Mount Sinai South Nassau - 0527
- NYU Winthrop Hospital - 0511
Suffolk County
- Huntington Hospital - 0913
- Southside Hospital - 0924
- University Hospital - 0245
Albany County
- Albany Medical Center Hospital - 0001
Monroe County
- Rochester General Hospital - 0411
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