Scientists have a new theory about the origins of a dangerous, drug-resistant fungus that can strike the sickest patients in hospitals and other facilities that provide long-term care: global warming.
The proposal, from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, was published Tuesday in the journal mBio, NBC News reported.
The fungus, a type of yeast called Candida auris, was discovered just 10 years ago in a Japanese patient with an ear infection. ("Auris" is Latin for "ear.") Since then, it has been diagnosed in patients around the world.
But C. auris didn't spread like a virus would, radiating out from one location. Instead, it popped up simultaneously in different parts of the world, including India, South Africa and South America.
