This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Why has the yeast Candida auris become a dangerous pathogen worldwide in just a few years? This question is on the minds of many researchers.
Carla Schuh and Chaitanya Gokhale from the Biocentre at the University of Würzburg have now summarized the current state of knowledge in a review article in the journal mSphere. To that end, they analyzed around 180 studies by other researchers. The two researchers believe it could be that climate change is what made the fungus infectious in the first place.
Of the estimated 3 million to 5 million species of fungi on Earth, only a few hundred are capable of infecting humans. "This is partly because most fungi cannot grow at a body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit)," says Schuh. However, climate change could lead to many fungi adapting to higher temperatures—and thus being able to colonize the human body.
The Würzburg study does not prove that climate change has actually caused the increased infectivity of Candida auris. However, the researchers have found numerous indications in the studies reviewed that support this explanation. They emphasize that the original habitat of Candida auris remains unknown to this day.
Possible habitats include coastal areas, wetlands or other saline environments. "This is another reason why there are several possible explanations for why the fungus appeared so suddenly and spread so rapidly," says Gokhale. In addition to climate change, other man-made environmental changes are also being discussed, such as the use of fungicides in agriculture.
Candida auris was first discovered in 2009 in Japan, in a patient's ear. This is where its name comes from, which literally translates as "yeast of the ear." Within a few years, the fungus was then found simultaneously on several continents in different genetic lineages. In evolutionary biology, this is an indication of a globally active selective factor such as climate change.
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