The Rise of Fungal Infections

Experts believe we've had built in protections from fungi infections for most of history, but that's beginning to change

Hiya!

Have you seen the HBO show The Last of Us? The premise revolves around a fungi-based global pandemic that destroys civilization and the journey of one man and a teen girl who are the last hope for humanity. It was all the rage when it came out in January 2023 and is worth watching. But aside from being well done and binge-worthy, many people were left wondering if a version could happen in real life.

Fungi are neither plants nor animals but single or multicellular organisms that can survive in nearly every habitat on land and, in some cases, water. But we’re just beginning to learn about them. Everything we’ve learned so far is mostly exciting but shows like The Last of Us present another, more ominous side of fungi. While the exact scenario of the show is unlikely to happen, some scientists are beginning to sound an alarm to warn us that a fungal threat may really be rising.

Fungal Infections On the Rise

An infectious disease physician and Chief of the CDC’s mycotic diseases branch, Tom Chiller, told Wired:

“We don’t have good surveillance for fungal infections. So it’s hard to give a fully data-driven answer. But the feeling is definitely that there is an increase.”

Part of the reason for this hunch among experts — that fungal infections are rising — is because of a growing number of seemingly bizarre cases. Wired wrote about several of them, but I’ll include just a few from earlier this year.

One, in February, involved two unrelated female patients aged 47 and 28 years old, who both got ringworm — a crusty, scaly, disfiguring rash that can cover large portions of the human body — caused by a fungus that had never been recorded within the United States and was extraordinarily drug-resistant. The older woman had traveled to Bangladesh the previous summer, but the younger woman hadn’t traveled at all. The younger woman was also pregnant, whereas the older woman was not.

A month later, in March, the same CDC crew that investigated and wrote about the February case announced some pretty startling news. See, experts started tracking a highly drug-resistant yeast — a fungus called Candida auris, which can cause severe illness and death in people with weak immune systems — back in 2016. Since then, however, the team found a particular jump in C. auris infections between 2019 and 2021. The statement explains:

“Nationwide, clinical cases rose from 476 in 2019 to 1,471 in 2021. Screening cases tripled from 2020 to 2021, for a total of 4,041.”

The following month, in April, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services was called to investigate a fungal outbreak involving blastomycosis spreading from a paper mill. By the end, the outbreak infected the largest number of people ever recorded at 118.

Then, in May, health authorities from the United States and Mexico issued warnings over an increase in meningitis cases caused by the fungi Fusarium solani. They found the infections likely spread via contaminated anesthesia products that spread to over 150 clinic patients — by August, 12 of them had died.

These outbreaks really only have one thing in common — they were all caused by fungi. I said before that fungi are still relatively new to us, and we’re still learning about them. But the pressure is on us to learn as much as we can about fungi, as fast as we can, especially when it comes to medical treatments. However, before we can even approach treatments for fungal infections, we need to be able to diagnose them first.

Research shows that patients with fungal infections can wait between two and seven weeks before receiving an accurate diagnosis. This holds true even when infected with endemic fungi, which should be familiar to local physicians. Considering this, it appears we have a steep hill to climb.

What’s Behind the Rise?