Fungal Infections: Protect Your Health

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Here are 10 questions you can use to understand fungal infections and know what you need to do to stay healthy.

Fungi are everywhere. Sometimes, they are too small to see with the naked eye. Fungi can live outdoors in soil and on plants, indoors on surfaces and in the air, and on people’s skin and inside the body. There are millions of fungal species, but only a few hundred of them can make people sick.

Mild fungal skin infections can look like a rash and are very common. For example, ringworm is a skin infection caused by a fungus—not a worm. Fungal infections in the lungs can be more serious and often cause symptoms that are similar to other illnesses, such as bacterial pneumonia or tuberculosis. Finding the correct diagnosis can be difficult and cause delays in getting the right treatment. Fungal infections like meningitis and bloodstream infections are less common than skin and lung infections but can be life-threatening.

The more you know about fungal infections and your chances of getting one, the better you can protect your health.

Find Out If You’re At Risk Of Getting A Fungal Infection

  1. Where do you live and travel? Fungi that can cause infections are more common in some parts of the United States and world. For example, in the United States, the fungus that causes Valley fever is found mainly in the Southwest and parts of the Pacific Northwest. Histoplasmosis and blastomycosis occur most often in the eastern United States.
  2. What types of activities are you doing? Harmful fungi can be found in air, dust, and soil. You could inhale fungi during activities like digging, gardening, cleaning chicken coops, and visiting caves. Histoplasma grows especially well in soil that contains bird or bat droppings.
  3. Do you have a dog or cat? People can get some fungal infections from their pets, including ringworm, which causes skin rashes. In South America, people can get infections from a fungus called Sporothrix brasiliensis from cats, and this fungus might arrive in the United States. If you think your pet might be sick, talk to your veterinarian.
  4. Have you recently taken antibiotics? Antibiotics can make women more likely to get a vaginal yeast infection, also known as vulvovaginal candidiasis. Women who are pregnant or those who have weakened immune systems also are more likely to get this condition. Men also can get genital candidiasis.
  5. Are you taking any medicine that affects your immune system? Medicine that weakens your immune system, like steroids, biologics, or chemotherapy, may increase the chance of getting a fungal infection.
  6. Are you receiving chemotherapy or radiation treatments? Cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy and radiation, weakens your immune system. These treatments may increase the chance you will get a fungal infection.
  7. Are you living with HIV? People living with HIV (particularly those with CD4 counts less than 200) may be more likely to get fungal infections. Two well-known fungal infections associated with HIV in the United States are oral candidiasis (thrush) and Pneumocystis pneumonia. Worldwide, cryptococcal meningitis and histoplasmosis are major causes of illness in people living with HIV.
  8. Are you going to be hospitalized? In the United States, one of the most common bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital is caused by a fungus called CandidaCandida normally lives in the gastrointestinal tract and on skin without causing any problems, but it can enter the bloodstream and cause infection. A type of Candida called Candida auris is often resistant to antifungal medicines and can spread between patients in healthcare settings.
  9. Have you recently had a transplant? People who recently had an organ transplant or a stem cell transplant have weakened immune systems. That means they have a greater chance of developing a fungal infection. Doctors prescribe antifungal medicine for some transplant patients to prevent fungal infections.
  10. Do you have symptoms of pneumonia that are not getting better with antibiotics? Fungal infections, especially lung infections like Valley feverhistoplasmosis, and blastomycosis, can have similar symptoms as bacterial infections. However, antibiotics don’t work for fungal infections. Early testing for fungal infections reduces unnecessary antibiotic use and allows people to start treatment with antifungal medicine, if necessary.

Anyone can get a fungal infection, even people who are otherwise healthy. People breathe in or come in contact with fungal spores every day without getting sick. However, in people with weakened immune systems, these fungi are more likely to cause an infection. To learn more about the signs, symptoms, and treatment of fungal infections and get prevention tips, visit CDC’s fungal diseases website and talk with your healthcare provider.

End of the Federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) Declaration

Updated May 5, 2023

What You Need to Know

  • The federal COVID-19 PHE declaration will end on May 11, 2023.
  • Most tools, like vaccines, treatments, and testing, will remain available.
  • CDC’s ability to collect and share certain data will change.
  • CDC is updating its guidance to align with data changes.

May 11, 2023, marks the end of the federal COVID-19 PHE declaration. After this date, CDC’s authorizations to collect certain types of public health data will expire.

The United States has mobilized and sustained a historic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a nation, we now find ourselves at a different point in the pandemic – with more tools and resources than ever before to better protect ourselves and our communities.

CDC has been working for many months to fold the agency’s COVID-19 emergency response activities into its existing structure and programs, as part of an ongoing transition to sustainable public health practice. The agency has also been working with partners, including states and local territories, to prepare for the end of the PHE declaration and communicate updated reporting requirements and cadences.

While reporting frequency and source data for some metrics will shift when the PHE declaration ends, CDC will continue to report valuable data to inform individual and community public health actions to protect those at highest risk of severe COVID-19. Our priority remains providing the information necessary to protect the nation’s public health.

What Does the End of the PHE Mean for You?

Most tools, like vaccines, treatments, and testing, will remain available. But, some tools, like certain data sources and reporting, will change.

Vaccines will remain available.

Access to COVID-19 vaccines will generally not be affected for now. The U.S. government is currently distributing free COVID-19 vaccines for all adults and children.  To help keep communities safe from COVID-19, HHS remains committed to maximizing continued access to COVID-19 vaccines.

COVID-19 at-home tests may not be covered by insurance.

Insurance providers will no longer be required to waive costs or provide free COVID-19 tests. CDC’s No Cost COVID-19 Testing Locator can help people find current community and pharmacy partners participating in the Increasing Community Access to Testing (ICATT) program.

Treatments will remain available.

Medication to prevent severe COVID-19, such as Paxlovid, will remain available for free while supplies last. After that, the price will be determined by the medication manufacturer and your health insurance coverage. Check with your healthcare provider if you need early treatment to prevent severe COVID-19.

National reporting of COVID-19 may change.

We have the right data for this phase of COVID-19 that will allow us to understand what’s happening with the virus in America in real-time. Simply put, while what we have going forward will be different, it will still allow CDC, local public health officials, and the members of the public to understand COVID-19 dynamics at the community level.

CDC’s Data and Surveillance

Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 and the effectiveness of prevention and control strategies remains a public health priority. With the COVID-19 PHE declaration ending, some metrics will remain the same, but some will change in frequency, source, or availability. This is in part because CDC’s authority to collect and receive certain types of data will change. CDC will continue to provide sustainable, high-impact, and timely information to inform decision-making.

The following metrics remain available:

COVID-19 hospital admissions.

All hospitals are required to report data through the end of April 2024. This provides a consistent and comprehensive way for weekly tracking of severe COVID-19 at the county level. These data will shift from daily to weekly reporting shortly after May 11.

COVID-19 deaths will remain, but the source of data has changed.

The National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) is the most accurate and complete source of death data, and timeliness of death certificate reporting has improved over the course of the pandemic. A new metric, the percent of deaths that are COVID-19-associated, and other metrics from NVSS will be reported weekly.

Emergency department patient visits with diagnosed COVID-19 will continue to be posted on a weekly basis.

These data cover about three-quarters of the nation’s emergency departments and provide information about COVID-19 trends in most states. This is one of the fastest ways to spot changing trends in COVID-19 transmission.

COVID-19 test positivity will remain, but the source of data has changed.

After May 25, CDC will report regional-level test positivity data from the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS), a longstanding system with over 450 labs from across the country that voluntarily submit data. These data can provide early indications of COVID-19 transmission.

Wastewater surveillance and genomic surveillance will remain in place.

This will allow the CDC to track transmission and how the virus is mutating.

Count of COVID-19 vaccines administered will remain for jurisdictions who continue to submit data, but frequency will change.

These data will be updated monthly, instead of weekly.

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