Doctors in New York City have reported the first-ever cases of a highly contagious skin infection in the United States
Two women in New York City have been diagnosed with a drug-resistant and highly contagious skin infection caused by Trichophyton indoline, a strain of ringworm-causing fungus that is common in South Asia but had not previously been detected in the U.S.
The infection can cause rashes and itchy, red skin across the body. The younger patient had the infection in the summer of 2021 while pregnant, and the 47-year-old woman developed a severe rash in the summer of 2022 during a trip to Bangladesh.
Both women received multiple treatments, including oral therapy and antifungal creams, but had limited success. The younger patient’s rash resolved completely after a four-week course of itraconazole, while the older patient experienced an 80% improvement after a course of griseofulvin.
Both women had lesions on their neck, abdomen, buttocks, and thighs, and the older patient’s family members were also experiencing similar symptoms.
The CDC has warned healthcare providers to consider T. indoline infection in patients with widespread tinea, particularly when eruptions do not improve with first-line topical antifungal agents or oral terbinafine.
Dr. Avrom Caplan, who treated one of the patients, told NBC News the fungal infection “is not a widespread problem” in the U.S.
Federal officials previously said another drug-resistant fungus, Candida auris, spread at an “alarming rate” in healthcare facilities in the United States between 2020 and 2021. Infection with the fungus can be deadly.
