No Superbug Cases in Area

If you've seen some of the headlines about a superbug in Illinois, it has been in the Chicago and St. Louis area so far, but no cases locally as of yet according to WCIA:

"There have been more than 150 cases of this superbug in northern Illinois.

No one has been diagnosed in central Illinois, but the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is keeping an eye on the situation."

Full article with some basic information on the fungus and prevention here. WILL has a much more detailed explanation of the outbreak in a radio (audio only) interview with experts here. From the description:

You may have heard about a rare, but potentially life-threatening fungus that has infected more than 150 people in the state. In fact, while it is rare, Illinois has experienced the most cases in the country behind only New York. It’s called Candida auris, and what makes it so potentially deadly is that it’s often resistant to drug treatment. We should be clear that the majority of the state has not seen any cases of this happening. By far, most of the cases have been in and around Chicago. There have also been three reported cases in St. Louis.

We're joined by Dr. Ngozi Ezike. She is the new director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, and she explains what this fungus is and whether healthy people need to be concerned. Dr. Rachel Rubin is also with us from the Cook County Department of Public Health.

More at the program webpage here, including links to the audio.