Dangerous fungus is becoming more prevalent. Scientists believe climate change could be to blame
Dangerous fungus is becoming more prevalent. Scientists believe climate change could be to blame
A rare and dangerous fungal infection has been spreading across the United States in recent years — and a primary theory is that climate change is driving its rapid rise.
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Interesting speculation but wish there was a bit more information in the article. For anyone interested, this particular species of candida is considered highly dangerous because it is resistant to most of the antifungal medications we currently use
but thats stated
>“It’s a potentially multi-drug resistant pathogen with the ability to spread very efficiently in healthcare settings,” he said. “We’ve never had a pathogen like this in the fungal infection area.” It is nearly always resistant to the most common class of antifungal medication, and is sometimes also resistant to another medication primarily used for severe catheter fungal infections in hospitals.
Apologies, I meant that I wanted to know how they came to the conclusion that climate could be affecting the prevalence. I'm not denying their claim, just curious what evidence they have.
I may have missed your quoted section because I opened the link on mobile and couldn't stand how disruptive the page was without ad block.
A shit you made me read it again too and they also say that
“I think the way to think about how global warming is putting selection pressure on microbes is to think about how many more really hot days we are experiencing,” said Casadevall of Johns Hopkins. “Each day at (100 degrees Fahrenheit, or 37.7 degrees Celsius) provides a selection event for all microbes affected — and the more days when high temperatures are experienced, the greater probability that some will adapt and survive.”
Idk, not a scientist. Seems like one of those complex chain reaction things, not a question of direct evidence for a single causing factor. Most of that stuff prefers warm temperatures and humid environments. Water from floods for example is full of delicious food for all kinds of organisms that can harm us. Also possible that the warming and seasonal weather extremes will speed up their evolution and make them generally stronger. Then combine that with the growing antibiotic resistance, and even weak and lame stuff like legionella will very soon be a greater danger.