According to US health officials, the global rise in temperature is increasing the risk of fungal infections, which can be fatal to human life. Climate predictions suggest that at some point before 2027, temperatures will rise by more than 1.5 Celsius above UN-mandated pre-industrial levels. Health officials say climate change is “making the organism better able to infect and invade people”, The Telegraph reported.
Dr Michael Kurilla, a director at the US National Center for Advanced Translational Sciences, said, “Since many of these fungal pathogens are commonly present in nature, they are not adapted to human or mammalian body temperatures at 37 degrees centigrade. ” Quoting the National Institute of Health.
“But with global warming, they’re actually adapting … (It) is becoming a lot easier for fungi to colonize and infect and invade civilians as well as other mammalian species,” he said.
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The report states that Candida auris is of particular concern, with a mortality rate of between 30 and 72 percent. First identified in Japan in 2009, the pathogen is spreading rapidly around the world, with nearly 30 countries reporting it. It is also difficult to detect and difficult to treat.
Candida auris exploits the weakened immune system and has emerged globally as a multidrug-resistant healthcare-associated fungal pathogen, which has caused outbreaks in hospitals around the world.
In March, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in a study published in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine that there is a steady increase in clinical cases of Candida auris between 2019 and 2021.
Experts saw a particularly dramatic increase during that time period: From 2019 to 2021, cases rose from 476 to 1,471. “This is going to be a perfect storm,” said Dr. Prabhavati Fernandes, an advisor to the World Health Organisation.
“Your resistance rates are going up, immunosuppressed patients are on the rise around the world, and you have this bug now adapting to higher temperatures.” According to experts, a surge in conditions like diabetes, heart disease and even prolonged Covid will also favor the fungus, the report said.