A deadly fungus alarms European hospitals

A killer fungus is spreading increasingly in European hospitals and Italy is among the most affected countries, writes tg24.com.

It is called "candidozyma auris" and has caused over 4 cases in European Union countries between 000 and 2013.

The alarm was raised by the ECDC, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, which, based on a study of 36 countries, pointed to a rapid spread and a peak in cases in 2023 (1).

Italy ranked third in terms of reported cases (712), behind only Spain (1 cases) and Greece (807).

The alarm has spread in just a few years, going from isolated cases to widespread distribution in several countries.

"Despite the increase in the number of cases, only 17 out of 36 countries currently have a national surveillance system. The true scale of the problem is likely to be underestimated," the researchers point out.

Recent outbreaks have been reported in Cyprus, France and Germany, while Greece, Italy, Romania and Spain have stated that they are no longer able to distinguish specific outbreaks due to widespread regional or national spread.