NHS Scotland has been alerted to a potentially deadly fungus that is resistant to drugs and is spreading through hospitals in the UK.

While it has not yet reached hospitals in Scotland, more than 200 patients have been found to be carrying Candida auris in 20 separate NHS trusts and independent hospitals elsewhere in the UK.

The fungus was first discovered in the ear of a patient in Japan in 2009.

C. auris can live on the skin and inside the body, causing complications for people with a weakened immune systems.

A spokeswoman for Health Protection Scotland said: "There have been no laboratory confirmed cases of Candida auris reported to Health Protection Scotland (HPS) to date.

"HPS has previously distributed information to NHS Scotland about this emerging infection and is keeping the situation under review in liaison with colleagues across the UK."

Medical staff south of the border have been given new guidelines on how to detect and deal with the fungus, which includes the "intensive" disinfection of wards.

A Public Health England spokesman said: "As at the beginning of July 2017, 20 separate NHS Trusts and independent hospitals in the United Kingdom had detected over 200 patients colonised or infected with C. auris."

C. auris is resistant to the first-line antifungal drug fluconazole and the species can rapidly evolve to develop resistance.

Since its discovery it has caused prolonged hospital outbreaks in India, Pakistan, Venezuela, and Colombia.