With new “The Last of Us” casting announcements confirming the main antagonist, Abby, will be played by Kaitlyn Dever and Ellie’s love interest, Dina, will be played by Isabela Merced, talks of the second season of the hit show have fans excited for what is to come. The first season follows the first part of the video game of the same name, and fans are looking forward to seeing the second part of the game come to life on their screens.

However, there has been a lot of speculation on whether or not the game’s premise — fungus taking over the world — is realistic.

Is it really plausible for a fungus to hijack a human body? And if so, how would it do it? Over the years, there have been many studies concerning fungal infections in humans and their severity.

“Rather than the spores and tendrils, we see with cordyceps in the video game, contact with infected patients and contaminated surfaces is the main way of transmission.”

A great defense humans have against fungal infections is internal body temperature. The human body temperature is too high for many types of fungi to survive and grow. However, as explained in the first episode of the show, global warming is forcing species to evolve to survive higher temperatures. This could eventually lead to fungi such as cordyceps — the genus of fungi we see take over the world in the show — being able to survive the human body temperature and infect people.

This does mean a fungal takeover is technically a realistic situation — yet very, very unlikely, if numerous pieces fall into place. But what should we know about fungi in the event we are faced with a fungal takeover?

Firstly, in order to know how to survive the fungal apocalypse, it is important to know exactly what a fungus is. We commonly see fungi in the form of mold, mildew, mushrooms and even yeast. Yes: That key ingredient in bread is a type of fungus. In fact, fungi give us many delicacies we adore, including bread, wine, beer and cheese.

“There’s a lack of clarity,” said Alassane Sow, a Michigan State University student who studies microbiology and mycology. “People don’t understand that (fungus) is more than mushrooms.”

In the first part of the video game, spores are a main way of transmission of the infection. Spores are basically mushroom pollen. Spreading their spores is how they reproduce. However, in the first season of the show, the spores are replaced with “tendrils.”

Luckily, we have not gotten to the point where we have had to study transmission of cordyceps in humans, so research concerning which method of infection is more realistic is extremely limited.

Ophiocordyceps has not been known to infect humans, but it does infect insects such as ants. In fact, it’s nicknamed the “zombie-ant fungus.” After breaching an ant’s skeleton, it activates and suppresses certain genes to control the ant’s behavior as well as invades the muscle of the ant to control its movements — extremely similar to how we see it control humans in the videogame.

While cordyceps does not infect humans like it does in “The Last of Us,” a different fungus might be starting to. Candida auris, a type of yeast, has evolved to survive at 37 degrees Celsius, which is the human body temperature.

Although it was only discovered in 2009, C. auris is responsible for deadly outbreaks in hospitals in over a dozen countries and many nosocomial infections, meaning people enter the hospital without this infection but leave the hospital with it.

These fungi can cause bloodstream infections and death. Some strains of C. auris that increasingly infect healthcare facilities have even mutated to be resistant to all three major classes of antifungal medication, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This means that normal antifungals are usually unable to treat the infection. 

Those most susceptible to C. auris infections include those with prolonged stays in hospitals and immunocompromised individuals. If we were to see a C. auris pandemic similar to the cordyceps outbreak we see in “The Last of Us,” it would most likely start in a hospital.

Similarly to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, quarantining those who are infected would be the first step to prevent the spread. Also, rather than the spores and tendrils seen with cordyceps in the video game, contact with infected patients and contaminated surfaces is the main way of transmission of C. auris.

Even if a patient is not showing symptoms, they could still have C. auris on their skin or other places on their body for weeks. Thorough cleaning of patient rooms with disinfectants that are effective against C. auris as well as wearing personal protective equipment like gowns and gloves when dealing with infected patients are extremely important in stopping the spread of the disease.

However, even though a C. auris outbreak is more likely than a cordyceps outbreak, it would most likely not be as intense as “The Last of Us” predicts a fungal takeover to be. It does not affect behavior like cordyceps does; however, it still does kill approximately one in three of the people it infects.

C. auris can make people extremely sick depending on the level of severity and type of infection they get. We might not have to worry about the events of “The Last of Us” coming to life right now, but it is important that we take care of ourselves to prevent any other fungal infections. Proper hygiene — such as washing hands and disinfecting surfaces — are good practices to prevent fungal infections like C. auris.

Reach Hana Pavelko at science@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.