Drug-Resistant Fungus Candida auris Spreads to 27 US States, Scientists Discover It Hides in Hair Follicles
Scientists have discovered how Candida auris, a deadly drug-resistant fungus that has infected over 3,000 patients across 27 US states this year, survives on human skin by hiding in hair follicles and hijacking the body's immune response. The pathogen, which the CDC considers an urgent antimicrobial threat, can colonize skin asymptomatically for months before becoming deadly if it enters the bloodstream through wounds or medical devices.