Opportunistic Yeast Infections and Climate Change: The Emergence of Candida auris

Abstract

AbstractCandida auris, first described in Japan in 2009, is an emerging pathogen that currently represents a challenge for health systems worldwide due to its distinctive characteristics: resistance to existing antifungal options, thermotolerance, osmotolerance, high degree of virulence, and ability to cause superficial to invasive infections with high mortality rates. It can also subsist and spread easily in the hospital environment. One of the most enigmatic aspects about C. auris is the cause that led to its sudden, and apparently synchronized, appearance on different continents and its rapid expansion throughout the world. Various theories have been proposed to explain its origin, which postulates that several factors, such as the indiscriminate use of antifungals and even climate change, are involved in the emergence of C. auris. The theory involving global warming states that C. auris existed in the environment, probably in wetlands, before it was identified as a pathogen in humans, and it became a pathogen due to its thermal adaptation in response to climate change. It is speculated that birds may have acted as a reservoir, and from this point, the yeast adapted to humans. Albeit this theory has not been confirmed yet, there is evidence to show that global warming is a key factor, although perhaps not the only one, in the emergence of this yeast. Therefore, governments must take relevant actions to limit the human activities that contribute to climate change.KeywordsClimate changeGlobal warming Candida MultiresistanceThermotolerance