TWO people have died after being infected with a drug-resistant fungus that thrives in the human body, scientists have revealed.
Before now, the fungus – called Rhodosporidiobolus fluvialis – had never been detected in people.
Typically, the warm body temperatures of humans offer greater protection against fungal infections.
But a new study, published in Nature Microbiology, found that this specific bug thrives in warmer climates of around 37C (the standard human body temperature) and – as a result – has become resistant to antifungal drugs.
It’s now thought that fungal infections make up nearly 6.8 per cent of global deaths – with 3.8million losing their lives to the infections annually.
This is almost double the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) 2022 estimate, which said 1.7million people die each year as a result of fungal disease.
To put this in perspective, heart disease – the world’s biggest killer – is responsible for 16 per cent of the world’s total deaths, followed by stroke at 11 per cent.
The discovery of this particular strain’s scary mutations has raised fears that the effects of climate change could make fungal infections even more dangerous to humans.
As part of their research, a team of scientists from the China Hospital Invasive Fungal Surveillance Net programme took fungi samples from patients who had died across China between 2009 and 2019.
The fungus, also known as R. fluvialis was discovered in the blood of two unrelated patients for the first time.
One was a 61-year-old who died in an intensive care unit (ICU) in Nanjing, China in 2013.
The man had shown up at the hospital with acute pancreatitis and kidney pain.
He was treated with antifungal medication but died shortly after of multi-organ failure.
The nasty fungus was also found in an 85-year-old who died in 2016 after being treated in an ICU in Tianjin, China.
This is a remarkable and truly unexpected finding, which bodes badly for the future
Prof David Denning
He was suffering from a plethora of health conditions when he was admitted including heart disease, respiratory failure, and pneumonia.
Medics gave him antifungal medication until he died of respiratory failure.
The report doesn’t say whether the fungal infection directly contributed to these patients’ deaths or if they just happened to be infected at the time.
The researchers tested the fungus in immunocompromised mice and found that the pathogen thrived inside their bodies.
Some strains showed rapid mutations into more extreme forms when exposed to higher temperatures, mutating 21 times faster at 37C compared to cultures kept at 25C.
This ability to rapidly adapt shows how temperature increases linked with climate change could lead to the emergence of fungal pathogens with resistance to drugs.
The researchers wrote that their finding “supports the idea that global warming may contribute to the evolution of this fungal pathogen or other new fungal pathogens”.
Speaking to Science, David Denning, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Manchester in the UK, who was not involved in the research, added: “This is a remarkable and truly unexpected finding, which bodes badly for the future.”
Another fungus called Candida auris is spreading at an alarming rate, recent figures have shown.
Scientists believe that climate change could be a contributing factor to the sudden emergence and spread of the bug – which since been spotted in 40 countries.
Arturo Casadevall, a microbiologist from Johns Hopkins University, US, said: “We have tremendous protection against environmental fungi because of our temperature.
“However, if the world is getting warmer and the fungi begin to adapt to higher temperatures as well, some … are going to reach what I call the temperature barrier.”
A HOST of deadly fungal infections are on the rise, posing a huge threat to humanity, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.
Since the Covid pandemic, experts have noticed an increase in deadly fungal diseases among hospitalised patients.
Many fungal pathogens, including candida which causes common infections like vaginal thrush, are becoming increasingly resistant to treatment.
Despite this, fungal infections receive very little attention and research resources.
As it stands, there are only four classes of antifungal medicines available and very few in development.
In its first ever report on the 19 fungal priority pathogens to watch, the World Health organisation (WHO) said antifungal resistance has “major implications” for human health.
“It generally leads to prolonged therapy and hospital stays, and an increased need for expensive and often highly toxic secondline antifungal medicines,” the report explained.
Professor Jon Cohen of infectious diseases at Brighton & Sussex Medical School, said that fungal infections are “less common than other types of infection but can cause extremely serious disease or death.”
The WHO estimate that 1.7 million people die each year as a result of fungal disease.
In most healthy people the immune system can fight off the infection, but it can be life threatening in already ill people, or immunocompromised individuals.
To find out which are the most concerning, a team of 30 researchers, analysed 6,000 scientific papers and sought advice from more than 400 international fungus experts.
Experts categorised 19 fungi based on on public health impact and risk of resistance to antifungal drugs.
Of the 19 fungi included, four were identified as being of “critical” priority.
These include candida auris, enters the blood causing deadly infections.
If left untreated it can become a life-threatening disease which kills around 29 per cent to 53 per cent of people it infects.
Aspergillus fumigatus, another fungi on the critical priority, which is found in the soil and mainly affects the lungs and in some cases can also infect the brain.
For those who catch a drug resistant version of the infection the morality rate is 47 to 88 per cent.
Cyptococcus neoformans, is another “critical” fungi which is most often found in the soil or decaying wood.
It initially affects the lungs but can spread to the brain causing death and serious disability.
