什么是念珠菌?

什么是念珠菌?

An infectious, drug-resistant fungus that kills about half of the people it infects is spreading around the globe, including the United States.

一種具有傳染性和抗藥性的真菌正在全球范圍內(nèi)傳播，其中包括美國(guó)。

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that there are 685 cases confirmed in the U.S. of the serious and sometimes deadly fungal infection Candida auris. The infection is often spread in health care settings.

美國(guó)疾病控制和預(yù)防中心(CDC)報(bào)告說(shuō)，美國(guó)確診了685例嚴(yán)重的、有時(shí)是致命的真菌感染念珠菌。這種感染通常在衛(wèi)生保健機(jī)構(gòu)傳播。

The CDC is concerned about C. auris because it's often resistant to the antifungal drugs commonly used to treat other Candida infections. It's also difficult to identify and diagnose with standard testing methods, leading to inappropriate, ineffective treatment.

美國(guó)疾病控制與預(yù)防中心對(duì)金耳菌很擔(dān)心，因?yàn)樗ǔ?duì)治療其他念珠菌感染的抗真菌藥物有抗藥性。使用標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的檢測(cè)方法也難以識(shí)別和診斷，導(dǎo)致治療不合適、無(wú)效。

Although anyone can be susceptible to an infection, risk factors include patients with diabetes or who've had recent surgery or central venous catheter placement or those using broad-spectrum antibiotics and antifungals. It targets people with weakened immune systems such as the elderly and infants.

盡管任何人都可能受到感染，但危險(xiǎn)因素包括糖尿病患者、近期做過(guò)手術(shù)的患者、中心靜脈導(dǎo)管置入患者、使用廣譜抗生素和抗真菌藥物的患者。它的目標(biāo)人群是免疫系統(tǒng)較弱的人，如老人和嬰兒。

C.auris was first identified in Japan in 2009, where it was found in the ear canal of a patient who complained of an ear infection. Although "auris" is the Latin word for ear, the fungus can affect many other regions of the body, according to the CDC.

2009年在日本首次發(fā)現(xiàn)金耳菌，當(dāng)時(shí)在一名抱怨耳朵感染的病人的耳道中發(fā)現(xiàn)了金耳菌。盡管“auris”在拉丁語(yǔ)中是耳朵的意思，但疾病控制與預(yù)防中心表示，這種真菌可以影響身體的許多其他部位。

C. auris can last on surfaces like chairs and bedrails for a long time, which allows it to spread easily in health care settings. (Photo: Syda Productions/Shutterstock)

Fungal infections are rare in humans because most fungi can't grow in temperatures as warm as the human body. In researching relatives of C. auris, Casadevall’s team were led to believe that this fungus may have adapted to higher temperatures.

真菌感染在人類中很少見(jiàn)，因?yàn)榇蠖鄶?shù)真菌不能在像人體一樣溫暖的溫度下生長(zhǎng)。在研究金耳菌的親戚時(shí)，Casadevall團(tuán)隊(duì)相信這種真菌可能已經(jīng)適應(yīng)了更高的溫度。

"What this study suggests is this is the beginning of fungi adapting to higher temperatures, and we are going to have more and more problems as the century goes on," said Casadevall in a statement. "Global warming will lead to selection of fungal lineages that are more thermally tolerant, such that they can breach the mammalian thermal restriction zone."

Casadevall在一份聲明中說(shuō):“這項(xiàng)研究表明，這是真菌適應(yīng)更高溫度的開(kāi)始，隨著本世紀(jì)的發(fā)展，我們將面臨越來(lái)越多的問(wèn)題。全球變暖將導(dǎo)致真菌譜系的選擇更加耐熱，這樣它們就能突破哺乳動(dòng)物的熱限制區(qū)。”

A strain of Candida auris cultured in a petri dish at the CDC. (Photo: CDC)

The fungus has now been reported in more than 30 countries including Canada, Colombia, India, Israel, Kenya, Kuwait, Pakistan, South Africa, South Korea, Venezuela and the United Kingdom.

目前已有30多個(gè)國(guó)家報(bào)告了這種真菌，包括加拿大、哥倫比亞、印度、以色列、肯尼亞、科威特、巴基斯坦、南非、韓國(guó)、委內(nèi)瑞拉和英國(guó)。