S'pore team discovers new strain of resistant fungus found in hospitals

Highly transmissible fungus affects mostly patients with severe underlying issues

- Judith Tan

Researchers in Singapore have discovered a new strain of Candida auris (C. auris), a highly resistant and easily transmissible fungus normally found in hospitals.

By uncovering the new strain early, not only will surveillance strategies be improved to keep a close watch on its emergence and contain the spread, but doctors can also sidestep an infection that could potentially close hospital wards and cause serious infections in vulnerable patients.

This discovery - by a team from the Singapore General Hospital (SGH), the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, and the National University of Singapore's Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has brought the total number of C. auris clades, or groupings, known globally to six.

The new strain was detected in April 2023 after a patient at SGH tested positive for C. auris, which is commonly associated with overseas travel.

But the Singaporean had not been overseas for two years before he was admitted to the hospital.

Dr Karrie Ko, a consultant at the Department of Microbiology at SGH, told The Straits Times that the lack of travel history was among the points of interest that led to the investigation into this case.