Pierce County man believed to be first in state infected with potentially deadly fungus

TACOMA, Wash. — A potentially deadly fungus – still considered an emerging disease – has now appeared in Western Washington. The first case of Candida auris showed up last week in a patient in Pierce County, launching a public health investigation.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) said the man was diagnosed with the fungus on July 13. The case was only discovered after he had been at Saint Joseph Medical Center for about six weeks and moved to another hospital that required screening for the fungus.

The fungus mostly impacts people who are already sick, but it’s hard to detect without a specific test, and is difficult to treat - that’s what can make the fungus so deadly. In fact, the TPCHD said more than one-third of infected patients die.

The CDC said, “30–60% of people with C. auris infections have died.”

However, most of those patients also had other serious illnesses. The fungus does not usually impact healthy people.

Some visitors at Saint Joe’s now hearing about the dangerous fungus impacting the hospital are worried for their loved ones.

“It’s scary. My ex-husband just had surgery yesterday and he’ll be in here probably two to three more days, so yeah it’s scary,” said Mary Quinlan, a Tacoma resident.

The CDC calls C. auris an “emerging fungus that presents a serious global health threat.”

It’s in the yeast family and mostly sickens patients already chronically ill, in healthcare settings, and patients who have tubes in their bodies – like for oxygen or catheters.

It causes fairly general symptoms, like a fever that won’t respond to antibacterial or antiviral drugs.

“This is the first case we know of yet in Washington State,” said Nigel Turner, division director of communicable diseases at the TPCHD. “This yeast or fungus is resistant to most the treatments for yeast or fungus, which makes it very problematic and hard to treat.”

The TPCHD said the man infected was at Saint Joe’s for about six weeks. The fungus was only detected when he was transferring to Kindred Hospital in Seattle, a long-term acute care facility.

“Kindred Hospitals Seattle – First Hill has a standard of care to screen every patient on admission for colonization or infection of C. Auris, and Kindred Hospitals has been a leader in promoting screening on admission,” said a spokesperson for Kindred Hospital.

The hospital said the patient who tested positive has been isolated for care.

As for Saint Joseph Medical Center, a spokesperson there said the hospital found out on July 14 that their discharged patient had tested positive for the fungus.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we immediately relocated the patient currently in the room that was previously occupied by the infected patient. The care and safety of our patients and staff remains the top priority for us,” said Kelly Campbell, Division Vice President of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.

Now Tacoma-Pierce County Health said it’s working with the hospital to get other potentially exposed patients tested. The hospital also said it’s doing special fungal disinfecting.

But the TPCHD said Washington State’s first brush with the fungus C. auris could just be the beginning.

“Are you expecting as more testing is done at Saint Joe’s, that there will be more cases?” we asked. “I think it’s highly likely that we will see more cases,” Turner said.

The only previous cases in the Pacific Northwest were two cases in Oregon in 2021. Nationwide, there have been 5,654 clinical cases and 13,163 screening cases since 2013, according to the CDC.

Saint Joseph Medical Center said it is working closely with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, Public Health - Seattle & King County, the Washington State Department of Health, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the situation and determine the next steps.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those who are most at risk are people who:

• Have many existing medical problems.
• Live in nursing homes or have had frequent hospital stays.
• Have a central venous catheter or other lines or tubes entering their body.
• Have weakened immune systems.

The CDC said the risk of a healthy person, including healthcare workers, getting a C. auris infection is extremely low.

©2023 Cox Media Group