Vertical Transmission

Abstract

We are now one-third of the way through 2019 and it is striking to me how prominent microbiology has been in our mainstream media this year. In particular, in human health we have seen the emergence of new and deadly microbes such as Candida auris, a multi-resistant fungal pathogen first described in 2009 in Japan. Within a decade C. auris has spread worldwide, causing infections or facility outbreaks in over a dozen countries, and it was identified in an Australian patient in 2018. The ease with which C. auris is transmitted, coupled with its resistance to treatment, make this microbe a formidable clinical problem and we need to devise effective control and treatment strategies urgently.