Pandemic from a Deadly Fungus? HBO 'The Last Of Us' - Candida Auris, Superbug, Scientific American
- The Last Of Us' made us wonder: Could a deadly fungus really cause a pandemic? NPR, Feb.10, 2023. -Ed.
From a scientific perspective, the new HBO show The Last Of Us is telling us a whopper–a mesmerizing whopper. In the show, climate change has fueled the rise of a new pathogen, which sweeps around the globe infecting humans, turning them into zombies and controlling their brains. The cause of the infection, however, is a bit surprising. "Not bacteria? Not viruses?" a TV journalist asks a scientist in front of a live audience during the first episode.
"Fungus," the scientist answers. The audience laughs. "Yes, that's the usual response," the scientist says.
And then he goes on to explain why fungi are a dire threat to humanity, pointing to the idea that rising temperatures on Earth will drive them to be more infectious to humans. When I watched this scene, I have to admit that I chuckled out loud, too. "A fungus wiping out humanity? Come on." I thought. "That is not even a remote possibility." But then, for this story, I started to research the possibility of a fungus triggering a pandemic, and I have to admit: I was wrong. I shouldn't have chuckled – not even a little bit. Because there's growing evidence – real evidence – that climate change may in fact make this class of pathogens more dangerous to humans. - Viruses v. Fungi? What's the bigger danger to humanity? For the past decade, I've reported on infectious diseases. Often I've asked scientists, "What keeps you up at night? What types of pathogens could cause a horrible pandemic?"
Every time, I've heard one type of pathogen, over and over again: viruses. The specific family of virus scientists worry about varies, but it's usually influenza, a SARS-like coronavirus or a paramyxovirus (which cause horrible illnesses such as Nipah & Hendra). No one has ever said "fungi" in response to my query. And a fungus has never caused a massive pandemic, similar to what the world is experiencing with COVID-19. The reason? Viruses have several big advantages over fungi when it comes to infecting people. For starters, they spread much much faster. "So the big advantage, if you will, for viruses is that one viral particle can become thousands of particles in a very short period of time," says Dr. Aileen Maria Marty.. - Fungi are changing - & could become more infectious to people. There's some evidence that this process is already happening, at least with one fungus species, called Candida auris. It's an emerging species, first detected in a 70-year-old woman's ear in Japan in 2009, & it's already emerged independently on 3 continents..
Studies suggest C. auris can mutate as quickly as some viruses, & that rising temperatures in some parts of the world may have pushed it to survive at higher temperatures.That may have the the ability to infect people. Right now, C. auris is a major problem in many hospitals, incl. those in the U.S., Goodman says. But it's mainly a risk for people with compromised immunized systems & who are very sick. "For many people, it's probably harmless." She is concerned that could change, "Fungal infections definitely keep me up at night," "because I see all the work that is performed on bacteria & viruses & how much we know about all these microorganisms. Then we look over at the fungal pathogens, & I see we know so much less." Even though no fungi has caused a deadly pandemic in people, they have caused horrific outbreaks in wildlife...
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/10/1156032770/the-last-of-us-made-us-wonder-could-a-deadly-fungus-really-cause-a-pandemic
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- * Also: Superbug Candida Auris is Giving Rise to Warnings & Big Questions, Scientific American, 2019,
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-superbug-candida-auris-is-giving-rise-to-warnings-and-big-questions/
= new reply since forum marked as read
It's scary. 
