A deadly fungus is quietly sweeping UK hospitals, a leaked Government dossier seen by The Mail on Sunday has revealed.
The secret memo from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warns of ‘significant outbreaks’ of the highly infectious fungus, known as Candidozyma Auris.
Even with worrying ‘under-reporting’ of cases by the NHS, there has been an alarming rise. The ‘situational awareness update’ suggests the Health Service is currently underprepared for the potentially lethal disease.
The horror illness can lie dormant for years, surviving on surfaces and peoples’ skin without detection.
If it gets into the blood stream through cuts or scratches it can prove lethal, as it is increasingly becoming more resistant to antifungal medications, and is particularly deadly to people with weak immune systems.
A map of the UK in the confidential report shows it has spread to 72 hospitals in the past two years alone.
There is no known vaccine for the fungus, which the World Health Organisation has designated as a ‘critical priority fungal pathogen’ – because it kills almost 60 per cent of those it infects within 90 days.
Although the UKHSA expects the mortality rate to be lower in the UK, health authorities have so far repeatedly refused to reveal what they know about UK deaths.
A leaked Government dossier seen by The Mail on Sunday has revealed that there are ‘significant outbreaks’ of a deadly fungus is sweeping UK hospitals
Tory health spokesman Stuart Andrew said of the UKHSA: ‘Their silence is deeply concerning.
‘Protecting national health demands honesty and openness about the scale of the risk. Anything less will undermine both public confidence and safety.’
According to experts, the fungus is very difficult to clean from surfaces.
Hospital probes have found traces on radiators, windowsills and medical equipment.
In April, the health agency designated it as a ‘schedule 2’ illness, a first for a fungus – putting it on a par with some of the UK’s most serious illnesses.
Hospitals have detected ‘outbreaks’ across the country with almost 500 cases in the past two years.
There is an ongoing ‘significant outbreak’ at Guys and St Thomas’s Hospital in London, where there have been 222 cases, although it is not known if they are invasive infections in the bloodstream.
In the past 12 weeks alone, there have been cases spotted at ten hospitals.
Rohini Manuel, of the UKHSA, said: ‘UKHSA is working with the NHS to investigate the reasons behind this. Outbreaks in this country are rare but we are supporting a number of trusts to limit the spread of C. auris.’
