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A Chicago woman fell victim to Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungus

nytimes.com

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Re: A Chicago woman fell victim to Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungus

#71

Post by xenadu02 »

voldacar wrote: post #20
jMyles wrote: post #5

There is a comment in this thread downvoted and killed, but I think it's not an entirely unreasonable question - and it's possible that someone here knows the answer: > Did anybody tried to apply blackseed and garlic light deep - fried coconut oil concoction? Just curious, sharing as it is our sub tropical Assam-Burma jungle traditional remedy for anything and everything fungal infection since time immemorial.

Your comment reminds me of that weird medieval remedy that turned out to be able to kill MRSA (!) [0] There's certainly plenty of BS in the traditional medicine world, but there may be a lot of remedies lurking right under science's nose. [0] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nasty-medieval-rem...

That's a case of "broken clock right twice a day".

Out of the tens of thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of medieval so-called remedies it turns out _one_ is accidentally useful.

It would be more surprising if absolutely none of the remedies were useful. You'd expect at least one or two hits just from chance.

Re: A Chicago woman fell victim to Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungus

#72

Post by Alex3917 »

mherdeg wrote: post #69

Johanna Rhodes, an infectious disease specialist at Imperial College London, told the New York Times: "We are driving [the spread of antifungal-resistant organisms] with the use of fungicides on crops." The Times also cited a theory from Tom Chiller, head of the CDC's fungal branch, that C. auris has become increasingly prevalent as the widespread use of azole fungicides has killed off other fungi on crops. So ... le…

> What should I do with respect to azole fungicides and my grocery-shopping decisions?

I would avoid using non-organic citrus for zest. Conventional lemons and limes get covered in antifungal drugs before getting covered again in wax. So you probably don’t want to be eating the outside.

Re: A Chicago woman fell victim to Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungus

#73

Post by justinjlynn »

darkerside wrote: post #63
dekhn wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is very unlikely that western doctors in a major hospital would use a traditional jungle remedy that has limited clinical support. I did a quick skim and the clinical support isn't very good. (none of this is to say it's not effective, just that it's unlikely western doctors would do this based on current clinical evidence)

The tautological limitations of our medical system frustrate me. Things aren't attempted because they lack clinical evidence, and they lack clinical evidence because they are not attempted. I know that sounds like I don't understand that this is simply how medical science works; in fact, I do. It's the cost of improving our certainty as new therapies are adopted. But, it's frustrating.

Frustrating, yes, but ethical. Unproven treatments aren't tried in day to day clinical settings - they are tried in trials or, maybe, with extreme reluctance and caution - and the supervision of an ethical board and, maybe, with the supervision of the local governmental medical authority.

Re: A Chicago woman fell victim to Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungus

#74

Post by blablabla123 »

hospitate wrote: post #53

I was scrolling on Weibo the other day and came across a news story about a killer fungus sweeping across the USA. Several deaths with 60% percent chance of death, they said. Well that was certainly news to me so I googled it. Nothing. Not a single shred of information. I wrote it off as shoddy Chinese journalism.

Yeah when I read the first time about it 2 weeks ago I also found almost nothing on google. Also the Wikipedia article doesn't have the depth it deserves I guess.

Re: A Chicago woman fell victim to Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungus

#76

Post by nickysielicki »

mherdeg wrote: post #69

Johanna Rhodes, an infectious disease specialist at Imperial College London, told the New York Times: "We are driving [the spread of antifungal-resistant organisms] with the use of fungicides on crops." The Times also cited a theory from Tom Chiller, head of the CDC's fungal branch, that C. auris has become increasingly prevalent as the widespread use of azole fungicides has killed off other fungi on crops. So ... le…

> and I'm generally on board with limiting my own use of antibiotics (e.g. not asking a physician for an antibiotic prescription for a minor illness that is most likely viral).

I, on the other hand, have an illegal supply of powerful antibiotics and antifungals sitting in my medicine cabinet. They're technically for fish, but do the math: there are only a handful of factories making these pills in the world, and the pills are indistinguishable. I don't feel guilty about it in the slightest.

There has been a fundamental change in the role of doctors and healthcare professionals in the past 30 years, and I don't like it. You can go to a doctor, and you can both agree that you have a certain infection, and the doctor will refuse to prescribe a drug which all parties know will cure the infection. I think that's a new development in medical practice.

So that's why I have fish medicine. Because when I'm sick for 3 weeks and still getting worse, fuck the greater good, I'm getting mine. And that's why you should take fish medicine, too: because as long as there are people like me, you're fighting a lost cause.

Re: A Chicago woman fell victim to Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungus

#77

Post by DanBC »

nickysielicki wrote: post #76
mherdeg wrote: post #69

Johanna Rhodes, an infectious disease specialist at Imperial College London, told the New York Times: "We are driving [the spread of antifungal-resistant organisms] with the use of fungicides on crops." The Times also cited a theory from Tom Chiller, head of the CDC's fungal branch, that C. auris has become increasingly prevalent as the widespread use of azole fungicides has killed off other fungi on crops. So ... le…

> and I'm generally on board with limiting my own use of antibiotics (e.g. not asking a physician for an antibiotic prescription for a minor illness that is most likely viral). I, on the other hand, have an illegal supply of powerful antibiotics and antifungals sitting in my medicine cabinet. They're technically for fish, but do the math: there are only a handful of factories making these pills in the world, and the…

But you in your home are unlikely to be able to diagnose whether an illness is bacterial or viral, and so sometimes you will be exposing yourself to anti-biotics for no reason. That's not a risk-free option. You might be happy with the amount of risk, but I doubt you know what the level of risk actually is.

> doctor will refuse to prescribe a drug which all parties know will cure the infection

Mostly it's doctors saying "we don't know if this is viral or bacterial, and by the time the tests come back it will have cleared up", or they're saying "this is a self limiting condition with no long lasting effects and taking antibiotics will shorten the duration by only half a day".

Re: A Chicago woman fell victim to Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungus

#78

Post by matthewmacleod »

nickysielicki wrote: post #76
mherdeg wrote: post #69

Johanna Rhodes, an infectious disease specialist at Imperial College London, told the New York Times: "We are driving [the spread of antifungal-resistant organisms] with the use of fungicides on crops." The Times also cited a theory from Tom Chiller, head of the CDC's fungal branch, that C. auris has become increasingly prevalent as the widespread use of azole fungicides has killed off other fungi on crops. So ... le…

> and I'm generally on board with limiting my own use of antibiotics (e.g. not asking a physician for an antibiotic prescription for a minor illness that is most likely viral). I, on the other hand, have an illegal supply of powerful antibiotics and antifungals sitting in my medicine cabinet. They're technically for fish, but do the math: there are only a handful of factories making these pills in the world, and the…

You can go to a doctor, and you can both agree that you have a certain infection, and the doctor will refuse to prescribe a drug which all parties know will cure the infection

That’s really not a thing that’s happening. You might find a doctor reticent to throw antibiotics at minor infections, but that’s because of their side effects rather than anything to do with antibiotic resistance.

In any case, even if there are a small number of people misusing antibiotics, it’s likely that the effect of their use in farming is far more harmful in the whole.

Re: A Chicago woman fell victim to Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungus

#79

Post by DoreenMichele »

mherdeg wrote: post #69

Johanna Rhodes, an infectious disease specialist at Imperial College London, told the New York Times: "We are driving [the spread of antifungal-resistant organisms] with the use of fungicides on crops." The Times also cited a theory from Tom Chiller, head of the CDC's fungal branch, that C. auris has become increasingly prevalent as the widespread use of azole fungicides has killed off other fungi on crops. So ... le…

let's suppose I care about slowing the development of drug-resistant fungi. As an individual, what can I do?

Grow some of your own food so you can control what goes on it.

Reduce your use of harsh chemicals generally in life/at home.

Skip particle board furnishings. Stick to glass, metal, hard plastic and real wood.

Eat right and exercise as your first line of defense for your own health.

/2 cents

Re: A Chicago woman fell victim to Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungus

#80

Post by cjbprime »

justinjlynn wrote: post #73
darkerside wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tautological limitations of our medical system frustrate me. Things aren't attempted because they lack clinical evidence, and they lack clinical evidence because they are not attempted. I know that sounds like I don't understand that this is simply how medical science works; in fact, I do. It's the cost of improving our certainty as new therapies are adopted. But, it's frustrating.

Frustrating, yes, but ethical. Unproven treatments aren't tried in day to day clinical settings - they are tried in trials or, maybe, with extreme reluctance and caution - and the supervision of an ethical board and, maybe, with the supervision of the local governmental medical authority.

You're a little quick to call things ethical -- in this article's case, the patient's doctors established that she had a fungal infection that was resistant to the treatments they had tried, then told her she would die soon and to prepare for it.

What would be unethical about instead offering an experimental antifungal treatment that had not been clinically tested or verified? When you have a fast-acting terminal disease and are capable of participating in informed consent, seriously, what's the worst that can happen?

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