The Last Of Us: An Overview of Fungal Infections and Diseases Induced by Dirty Dead Familoviruses

In the HBO show “The Last of Us,” characters identify zombies among them by the fungi that bursts from their bodies, and fungal parasites manipulate the humans to infect the communities around them.

The species that inspired the story is not harmful to people in real life. CNN is a part of Warner Bros. Discovery.

“Viruses have this way of suppressing the immune response, and some of the drugs we’re using to combat the viruses are also having an effect where they’re making it easier for fungi to invade,” he said.

“Fungi are just seeking sources of food, and in the eyes of many saprotropic fungi, we are just food,” he added. Saprotrophic is an organism that feeds on dead organic matter.

The Athlete’s foot, which can cause itching or stinging, and thrush, which can develop on the tongue or inner cheek are symptoms of one of the many superficial fungal infections. They are irritating, but fortunately, treatments still work on them.

The cryptococcus neoformans is a yeast that lives in the soil and is considered one of the most critical species by the WHO. People can inhale fungal cells, and most don’t get sick. But in those with a suppressed immune system, it can affect the lungs and spread to the nervous system and blood. Over the years, this fungus has become resistant to some treatments.

According to the CDC, healthy people don’t get sick from candida auris. Rather, it’s more likely to affect people who have serious medical problems and require long stays in health care facilities, people with weakened immune systems and people with medical devices going into their bodies, such as breathing tubes or catheters. People at high risk of serious infections should be screened for the candida auris.

Apergillus fumigatus, a mold that can be found just about everywhere, may cause pulmonary disease in people with weakened immune systems. It could also cause allergic reactions or lung infections that might become serious and move to other organs. It has showed growing antifungal resistance, WHO says, thanks to widespread use of azole fungicides to prevent its spread in crops.

Global Warming and increased international trade could be causing an increase in the number of fungal disease cases.

After the flu epidemics, there have been more opportunist fungal infections, like those that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Dr. Matthew Kasson.

World Health Organization encourages countries to increase their diagnostic capacity for infectious diseases. It also recommends more money put into research, medicine and tests for these infections. Currently, fungal infections receive less than 1.5% of all infectious disease research funding, WHO said.

It’s difficult to develop antifungal treatments because, in the words of Dr. Matt Nelsen, a researcher from Chicago’s Field Museum, “animals and fungi are each other’s closest relatives.”

“We share a lot of biochemical similarities, and so when we are trying to kill off the fungus, we need to be careful that we’re not also killing ourselves,” he said.

Kasson said he thinks the attention from “The Last of Us” and other programs means “fungi are having a moment,” yet he hopes it is not going to be overblown.

The spread of candida auris in the United States skyrocketed from 2009 to 2021: Four different strains have been identified in the past decade

Four different strains of candida auris appeared on four continents between 2009 and 2015. All four strains have now been identified in the US, probably introduced through international travel, the CDC says.

The study authors found that clinical cases increased each year, rising from 53 in 2016 to 330 in 2018 and then skyrocketing from 476 in 2019 to 1,471 in 2021.

The cases of the yeast infections expanded geographically. Although it was initially confined mostly to the New York City and Chicago areas, Candida auris is now present in more than half of US states. Between 2019 and 2021, 17 states identified their first cases.

The researchers think the increased spread may have been worsened by strains on the health care and public health system.

“Once it sets up shop, in a nursing home for example, it’s almost impossible to eradicate,” he said. “Once it’s on patients too, it can kind of just be colonized for years, if not their life.”