Fungicide treatment done often on apples and other fruits to prevent spoilage and extend shelf life may help host and boost the transmission of pathogenic yeasts that are multi-drug resistant, warned an international team of researchers, including from India.

According to mycologist Anuradha Chowdhary, from the University of Delhi, studies so far have examined the effect of fungicides on the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. But the new work, published in the journal mBio, focuses on drug-resistant strains of Candida auris, a pathogenic yeast that spreads quickly in hospitals and has been isolated from nature.