Deadly black fungus left 'gorgeous' mum 'looking like a monster' before she died
The deadly fungus spreading across the US left a mum looking 'like a monster' before she died.
Denise DuBarry died aged 63 after contracting the black fungus Candida auris while in hospital for care for another illness.
The fungus 'colonises' the patient's skin before finding its way into the bloodstream through open wounds. If this happens there is a 30 to 60 percent mortality rate.
Cases have now appeared in 28 of the US' 50 states with some badly hit regions such as Nevada, California and Florida seeing hundreds.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have described the alarming spread as "a serious global health threat".
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Denise DuBarry (L) and daughter Samantha Lockwood (R) in 2009 (Getty Images)
Actress Denise DuBarry was left disfigured by the horrific fungus, her daughter has said (Penske Media via Getty Images)Ms DuBarry was an an actress who appeared in hit TV shows such as Charlie's Angels, Days Of Our Lives and The Love Boat.
Her daughter, actress Samantha Lockwood, 40, told Daily Mail: "It was pretty horrific situation, to be brutally honest. Having seen my mom in such a state, I cannot even wish it on my worst enemy, what I saw."
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Her mum had been hospitalised in California with a sinus infection in March 2019. She was transferred to Loma Linda hospital where Ms Lockwood said she picked up the fungus.
A computer illustration of the fungus (Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)Ms Lockwood said: "And when I saw her, one of her eyes was completely bugged out of her head. She's a gorgeous woman. She looked like a monster. She was swollen with edema, she had tubes coming out of her throat, her tongue was swollen out of her face."
The fungus is particularly dangerous to anyone with weakened immune systems and resists treatment by common anti-fungal medications.
Another daughter of someone lost to the fungus said doctors think she may have contracted the fungus from oxygen tubes.
Lorraine McCreary, who went by Lorrie, 86, was killed by the deadly fungus (Sharon McCreary)Sharon McCreary, 61, told the Daily Mail her mum Lorraine, 86, suffered a fatal stroke last summer after catching the deadly fungus after going into hospital with pneumonia.
Ms McCreary recalled the moment she was read about the disease she was just told her mum had. She said: "I read it and I looked at my husband and I said, 'This kills 50 percent of the people who get it.' I just had this dread, and it was rightfully placed dread."
Sharon McCreary (left) with her mom Lorrie McCreary (right) in happier times (Sharon McCreary)Debbie also said she had turned to her husband after getting off the hospital days before her mum died and told him she didn't think Lorraine will come home.
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The CDC said: "In the United States, most cases of C. auris result from local spread within and among healthcare facilities in the same city or state."
The number of cases spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nearly half of patients who contract C. auris die within 90 days, according to The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
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