A former US health official has called on the Australian government to introduce a notification system for a highly infectious, deadly fungus. Dr Marion Kainer told AAP doctors in the US are required to notify their state health department, who warn federal authorities, when they detect the drug-resistant bug Candida auris. But the former infectious disease director at the Tennessee Department of Health says no such system exists in Australia and there’s no data on the fungus in the country. Candida auris is a fungus that lives on people’s skin and can infect blood when the skin is punctured, with the bug only attacking people with weakened immune systems. Dr Kainer, who now works for Western Health in Melbourne, also called for better education around the fungus as it was often mistaken for Candida fungus, a common yeast infection. Dr Kainer said any medical patients coming from overseas should […]