Researchers discover how drug-resistant fungus Candida auris survives on skin

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have identified how the deadly, drug-resistant fungus Candida auris persists on human skin by exploiting the body’s own immune response. According to a study published in the journal Science, the fungus settles into hair follicles and binds to hair significantly more effectively than related species like Candida albicans.

Unlike other fungi that trigger immune responses to clear infections, C. auris appears to manipulate the skin’s immune axis to facilitate its survival. By exposing cell-wall material known as chitin, the pathogen triggers a specific immune signal that allows it to hunker down in hair follicles rather than being eliminated. This ability to colonize the skin of healthy individuals without immediate illness makes it a major driver of transmission in hospitals and nursing homes.

First identified in Japan in 2009, C. auris has become a global superbug threat due to its ability to evolve resistance to common antifungals, with some strains being pan-resistant. While skin colonization is often asymptomatic, the fungus can cause life-threatening bloodstream infections in immunocompromised patients, with mortality rates reported between 30% and 70%. The discovery of its survival mechanism may lead to new treatments designed to clear the fungus from the skin before it causes systemic infection.