CDC - Clinical Alert to U.S. Healthcare Facilities - Global Emergence of Invasive Infections Caused by the Multidrug-Resistant Yeast Candida auris

submitted by Carrie La Jeunesse

cdc.gov - June 24, 2016

Summary: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has received reports from international healthcare facilities that Candida auris, an emerging multidrug-resistant (MDR) yeast, is causing invasive healthcare-associated infections with high mortality. Some strains of C. auris have elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) to the three major classes of antifungals, severely limiting treatment options. C. auris requires specialized methods for identification and could be misidentified as another yeast when relying on traditional biochemical methods. CDC is aware of one isolate of C. auris that was detected in the United States in 2013 as part of ongoing surveillance. Experience outside the United States suggests that C. auris has high potential to cause outbreaks in healthcare facilities. Given the occurrence of C. auris in nine countries on four continents since 2009, CDC is alerting U.S. healthcare facilities to be on the lookout for C. auris in patients.

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CLICK HERE - CDC - Candida auris Questions and Answers

In 2009, yeast isolates from the external ear canal of a Japanese patient were identified as a new species, Candida auris, on the basis of sequence analysis of the nuclear rRNA gene . . .

. . . most (83%) of the patients in our study had an indwelling urinary catheter, the source of fungemia could be urogenital colonization. However, no urine samples were cultured.

CLICK HERE - CDC - New Clonal Strain of Candida auris, Delhi, India (4 page .PDF file)