Candida auris is a new drug-resistant mushroom that is emerging globally

Early identification of Candida auris, a potentially lethal fungus that causes blood and intra-abdominal infections, is key to controlling its spread. Its emergence has highlighted shortcomings in the ability to identify fungi in the United States and around the world, and physicians should be vigilant about risk factors. A comment is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Candida auris differs from the better known Candida species in many ways and its drug resistance is unprecedented among known pathogenic yeasts. It is thought that most Candida species are not transmitted to health care facilities and do not require infection control measures when a patient gets the infection. However, unlike other Candida species, C auris is generally transmitted between patients in health care facilities, causing epidemic outbreaks that not only affect a single facility, but also spread through institutional networks. The ability to C auris persisting and contaminating the health care environment and medical devices probably contribute to these outbreaks.

According to experts from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), previous hospitalization in a country C auris Transmission is a known risk factor for infection or colonization, as is the receipt of health care in long-term care hospitals and retirement homes that care for very ill patients requiring treatment. long-term fans. Frequent hospitalizations and the use of several very broad-spectrum antibiotic treatments are also important risk factors. The authors suggest that being on the alert for these risk factors and selecting the right patients is the key to controlling the spread C auris.