NBC News: Deadly fungal infections may increase with global warming
“Scientists have a new theory about the origins of a dangerous, drug-resistant fungus that can strike the sickest patients in hospitals and other facilities that provide long-term care: global warming. The proposal, from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, was published Tuesday in the journal mBio…” (Edwards, 7/23).

Newsweek: Scientists Who Studied Candida Auris Fungus Warn Global Warming May Lead to Diseases ‘We Don’t Even Know About Right Now’
“…Dr. Arturo Casadevall, chair in molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and co-author of the latest study published in the journal mBio explained to Newsweek that fungi can struggle to survive a mammal’s body temperature. His team believes Candida auris started infecting humans relatively recently because it adapted to higher ambient temperatures resulting from global warming, such that it was able to survive at human temperatures…” (Gander, 7/23).

STAT: The superbug Candida auris is giving rise to warnings — and big questions
“What’s known about the fungus Candida auris confounds the scientists who study it, the doctors who struggle to treat the persistent infections it causes, and the infection control teams that endeavor to clear it from hospital rooms after infected patients leave. But the list of what’s not known about this highly unusual fungus is longer still — and fascinating. Experts say there’s an urgent need for answers and for funding with which to generate them…” (Branswell, 7/23).

Washington Post: Deadly fungal disease may be linked to climate change, study suggests
“…Researchers have never been able to isolate the fungus from the natural environment or figure out how genetically distinct versions emerged independently at roughly the same time in India, South Africa, and South America. … Researchers cautioned that global-warming related changes in the environment alone do not explain the fungus’s emergence. ‘It’s an interesting theory, it’s a very good theory, but it needs to be proven,’ said Luis Ostrosky, an infectious disease researcher at UTHealth Houston’s McGovern Medical School. The widespread use of antifungal drugs and heavy use of fungicide on crops are among other theories for the emergence of the fungus, Ostrosky said…” (Sun, 7/23).