Candida: A Fungus We All Carry That Can Lead to Most Common Fungal Infections, Tips to Fight It

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Candida albicans is a type of fungus that causes some of the most common fungal diseases. The drug-resistant strain has received a lot of attention, but the majority of cases are caused by the yeast’s more easily treated forms. Let’s look at what’s known about this disease, what it can do to us, and what can be done about it.

We All Carry It

Everyone carries a small amount of Candida. Normal strains of Candida are usually present in small amounts in our mouths, digestive tract, and skin.

Problems start when the balance of microorganisms in our bodies is disrupted; then Candida can overgrow, which causes infection.

The risks of this vary depending on the location of the infection, and common types of candidiasis include:

• Thrush: a yeast infection of the mouth or throat that can cause white patches in these areas, pain, and difficulty swallowing.
• Vaginal yeast infection: an infection of the vagina that can cause itching, burning, and discharge.
• Diaper rash: a rash that develops in the diaper area of infants.

Thrush and vaginal yeast infections are the most common fungal diseases. A rarer but more serious type of infection occurs when Candida enters the bloodstream and spreads throughout the body. This is called systemic or invasive candidiasis and it can cause a range of symptoms like fever and low blood pressure and can affect internal organs.

Major risk factors for this condition are the use of central venous catheters, exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics, and low white blood cells (neutropenia). Extended stays in the hospital are also associated with increased risk.

“The signs and symptoms associated with Candida include fever and chills as well as ear and wound infections,” Dr. Christopher Calandrella, chair of emergency medicine at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, part of Northwell Health in New York, told The Epoch Times.

“Infections on the skin can present suddenly as painless groups of small, pus-filled blisters on a red base, or as small, red bumps on the skin,” he added.

Preventing Infection

Fortunately, infection is relatively easy to prevent by taking several commonsense precautions.

Chief among them is practicing good hygiene, such as regularly washing your hands and keeping skin clean and dry. It helps to wear loose-fitting, breathable clothing, and minimize time spent in damp clothing.

“In the health care setting, use of the appropriate transmission-based precautions, cleaning and disinfecting surfaces, as well as screening contacts of recent cases is also key to reducing risk,” said Calandrella.

It’s also important to avoid using antibiotics unnecessarily; these drugs can disrupt the balance of microorganisms in the body and increase the risk of creating antibiotic-resistant strains of certain pathogens, including Candida.

Tips to Fight Candida

If someone does develop a Candida infection, there are treatment options available, three of which are natural and easy to do.

• Antifungal medications can be taken orally, applied topically, or inserted into the affected area.
• Consuming foods or supplements that contain probiotics can help restore the balance of microorganisms in the body. These include yogurt with live bacterial cultures and fermented foods like kimchi, kefir, and kombucha. Probiotic supplements should contain Lactobacillus or acidophilus.
• Two home therapies that can help some people find relief from Candida are nature-based substances such as tea tree oil or coconut oil.

Tea tree oil was found to be effective against fluconazole-resistant Candida when used as a topical antiseptic.

Coconut oil can help kill Candida because it contains a medium-chain fatty acid called caprylic acid, which infiltrates yeast cells and ruptures them, reducing fungal growth. One study found coconut oil has similar efficacy to the antifungal medication ketoconazole for treating yeast infections.

Antibiotic-Resistant Candida Auris

There’s a drug-resistant strain of Candida called Candida auris that’s spreading throughout U.S. health care facilities. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a warning about Candida auris.

“Candida auris is an emerging, multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen with clinical isolates [that] are typically resistant to commonly prescribed antifungal drugs,” said Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum, fungal disease expert and co-founder of BIOHM.

First identified in Japan in 2009, Candida auris has since been reported in over 40 countries. It’s increasingly recognized as a cause of infections and outbreaks in hospitals and nursing homes.

This strain was first identified in the United States in 2013.

The CDC calls this pathogen an urgent threat because it can be resistant to treatment with antifungal drugs and can cause severe infections with high death rates. Unlike other strains of Candida, which are typically treated with antifungal medications like fluconazole, Candida auris is resistant to multiple classes of antifungal drugs.

Although still rare in the United States, more than 1 in 3 patients with invasive Candida auris infection die from the disease. This fungus survives on surfaces in health care environments and can spread from person to person.

Those at increased risk of infection with the resistant strain include people with weakened immune systems, people who have recently undergone surgery, or those hospitalized for an extended period.

Ghannoum said that symptoms of Candida auris infection are not very specific since patients infected by this emerging fungus typically have other underlying diseases, such as cancer or diabetes, which hide their symptoms and can vary greatly.

“Therefore, a laboratory test is needed to determine whether a patient is infected with this fungus,” he emphasized. “It is important that clinicians treating patients should ‘think fungus,’ especially if they are not responding to antibiotics within four days.”

Prevention of Candida auris infections includes some of the same infection control measures used for other types of Candida: practicing good hand hygiene, cleaning surfaces, and especially for Candida auris, using isolation precautions for infected patients.

Similar to what is now done with antibiotic use, antifungal stewardship programs can help prevent the development and spread of antibiotic-resistant strains of Candida by promoting the appropriate use of antifungal medications.

If you develop a Candida auris infection, your treatment options may be limited due to how resistant the infection is to various antifungal medications.

The vast majority of Candida auris infections can be treated with echinocandins, a class of antifungal drugs,” said Ghannoum. “However, some strains are resistant to all clinically available antifungal drugs.”

In this case, treatment will typically involve a combination of antifungal medications, and the duration of treatment could be significantly longer than for other types of Candida.