The infections have surfaced in the city’s public hospitals and retirement homes, the South China Morning Post reports. Raymond Lai of the umbrella organization of hospitals in Hong Kong calls the outbreak worrying. This year, 136 people have been diagnosed with Candida auris. There were 20 cases in all of 2019.
People who have contracted an infection have a death rate of between 30 and 60 percent, depending on where the infection is. It is not known how many people died from the effects of the yeast in Hong Kong.
“We hope to control the yeast in hospitals and retirement homes so that it does not spread to the community,” said Lai. According to him, the yeast can currently spread easily because isolation rooms in hospitals are often occupied due to the corona virus. Patients with Candida auris therefore remain in rooms with other patients.
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