HBO's hit show The Last of Us depicts the collapse of society in the aftermath of a fungal outbreak that turns infected people into zombies. As an infectious disease specialist and head of a biotech company that specializes in antifungals, I can assure you that there is no reason to worry about a fungus turning you into a zombie. Unfortunately, I can't offer similar reassurance about the possibility of a significant fungal outbreak. That threat is all too real.
In fact, last month, the CDC warned that the drug-resistant fungus Candida auris is spreading rapidly throughout the United States, with clinical cases tripling from 2019 to 2021. C. auris can cause outbreaks in healthcare settings and kills up to one-third of infected patients.
