The rate of infection rose by 95% between 2020 and 2021 (Picture: Getty/Science Photo Library)
A deadly fungus which is resistant to treatment is spreading through hospitals in the US.
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the type of yeast, which is called Candida auris, has killed around one-third of people who’ve caught it.
But fear not, they insist it’s not the start of a zombie apocalpyse – despite it having stark similarities to the plot of hit TV series The Last Of Us.
‘This is an infection that occurs in extremely ill individuals who are usually sick with a lot of other issues,’ epidemiologist Dr Waleed Javaid said.
The fungus was first reported in 2016, but the rate of infection has risen at a dramatic rate, Sky News reports.
Between 2020 and 2021, the number of infections rose by 95%.
They have also found an increasing number of samples tested have been resistant to common treatments.
The fungus kills one-third of people who catch it (Picture: AP)
Dr Meghan Lyman, chief medical officer of the CDC’s mycotic diseases branch, said the increasing reports of infection is ‘really concerning’.
She said: ‘We’ve seen increases not just in areas of ongoing transmission, but also in new areas.’
The fungus, which can be found throughout the body, is thankfully not threatening to healthy people.
Don’t worry, clickers from The Last of Us are not coming (Picture: HBO)
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It has already been found in more than half of the US states.
In Mississippi, 12 people have been infected since November, with four ‘potentially associated deaths’.
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The fungus kills one-third of people who catch it.