Never-before-seen fungus that mutates at ‘hyper’ speed is discovered in China as two patients die with it

A never-before-seen fungus that infects humans China.

Two men, one in his 60s and the other in his 80s, have already died from infection with a pathogen called R. fluvialis, but it is unclear whether the bacteria caused their deaths.

The researchers at Nanjing Medical Center who made the discovery are concerned that there may be other people infected with the disease, which is a type of yeast.

Experiments in mice have shown that R. fluvialis mutates quickly, suggesting the same could happen in humans if it becomes widespread.

The bacteria was discovered as part of a study that looked at samples from tens of thousands of patients treated in hospitals across China between 2009 and 2019.

The two men did not know each other, lived nearly 500 miles apart, and were hospitalized three years apart.

They also had weakened immune systems – one was taking immunosuppressants and the other had diabetes.

But the case is raising concerns, especially because laboratory tests found that the new fungus is resistant to three commonly used first-line antifungal treatments: fluconazole, caspofungin, and amphotericin B.

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Another experiment using immunodeficient mice showed that R. fluvialis rapidly mutates to form “hypervirulent mutants.”

And in a petri dish, the virus mutated 21 times faster at body temperature than at room temperature, increasing the risk of more dangerous strains emerging.

Scientists said it was currently unclear how the patient became infected or whether the bacteria caused his death.

However, in many cases, fungal infections such as C. auris Infected in the hospital After the patient was admitted to hospital for another medical condition.

C. auris can spread in the blood and cause sepsis, an overreaction of the immune system to an infection, which is fatal in about 30 percent of cases.

Dr David Denning, an infectious disease expert at the University of Manchester in the UK, said: Live Science The researchers who revealed the study said it was a “remarkable finding” that “bodes ill for the future.”

Dr Matthew Fisher, fungal disease epidemiologist at Imperial College LondonHe added that the fungus should not yet be seen as a major new threat.

“My first impression is that there are unexplored environments in China that house these yeasts,” he said.

“These two patients were unfortunate enough to become infected.”

The 61-year-old patient was admitted to a hospital in Nanjing in 2013 with severe pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) and kidney damage.

He was treated with antifungal drugs and later died of multiple organ failure.

The 85-year-old patient had been suffering from pneumonia in 2016 and was admitted to a hospital in Tianjin, about 500 miles further north.

He too was treated with antifungal drugs but died of respiratory failure.

A total of 27,100 fungal species were detected in hospital patients over the 10-year period analyzed.

Rare fungi accounted for only 1.7% of the strains, and of these, only R. fluvialis was a new species that had never been described before.

The scientists said the paper also highlighted the risk of new pathogens emerging as a result of global warming, as fungi are more likely to mutate in warmer temperatures.

The study was published in the journal Nature Microbiology.