Search results for "Candida auris"
showing 10 items of 18 documents
Identification of Candida auris and related species by multiplex PCR based on unique GPI protein‐encoding genes
2020
Background The pathogen Candida auris is rapidly gaining clinical importance because of its resistance to antifungal treatments and its persistence in hospital environments. Early and accurate diagnosis of C. auris infections is crucial, however, the fungus has often been misidentified by commercial systems. Objectives To develop conventional and real-time PCR methods for accurate and rapid identification of C. auris and its discrimination from closely related species by exploiting the uniqueness of certain glycosylphosphatidylinositol-modified protein-encoding genes. Methods Species-specific primers for two unique putative GPI protein-encoding genes per species were designed for C. auris, …
Evaluation of a novel chromogenic medium for Candida spp. identification and comparison with CHROMagar™ Candida for the detection of Candida auris in…
2020
Abstract A shift to Candida non-albicans infections has been noted during the last years, and the emergence of multi-resistant Candida auris has complicated their management. The aim of this study was first to compare the performance of the novel chromogenic medium CHROMagar™ Candida Plus (CHROMagar, France) with CHROMagar™ Candida (Becton Dickinson, Germany) for the presumptive identification of Candida species; and then, to evaluate its utility in the detection of C. auris in surveillance samples. CHROMagar™ Candida Plus showed a good performance compared with the reference medium CHROMagar™ Candida. Sensitivity and specificity were 100% in both media for tested species at 48 h of incubat…
Candida auris: An Overview of How to Screen, Detect, Test and Control This Emerging Pathogen
2020
The multidrug-resistant yeast Candida auris is associated with invasive infections in critically ill patients and has been isolated in different countries worldwide. Ease of spread, prolonged persistence in the environment and antifungal drug resistance pose a significant concern for the prevention of transmission and management of patients with C. auris infections. Early and correct identification of patients colonized with C. auris is critical in containing its spread. However, this may be complicated by C. auris strains being misidentified as other phylogenetically related pathogens. In this review, we offer a brief overview highlighting some of the critical aspects of sample collection,…
Characteristics and Management of Candidaemia Episodes in an Established Candida auris Outbreak
2020
The multi-resistant yeast Candida auris has become a global public health threat because of its ease to persist and spread in clinical environments, especially in intensive care units. One of the most severe manifestations of invasive candidiasis is candidaemia, whose epidemiology has evolved to more resistant non-albicansCandida species, such as C. auris. It is crucial to establish infection control policies in order to control an outbreak due to nosocomial pathogens, including the implementation of screening colonisation studies. We describe here our experience in managing a C. auris outbreak lasting more than two and a half years which, despite our efforts in establishing control measure…
Validation and implementation of a commercial real-time PCR assay for direct detection of Candida auris from surveillance samples.
2021
Background Rapid and reliable laboratory methods are required for detecting the nosocomial yeast Candida auris. AurisID® (Olm Diagnostics, England) is a real-time PCR assay approved for detecting C. auris in fungal cultures as well as directly from blood samples, involving a nucleic acid extraction as a prior step. Objectives The purpose of this study is to validate the AurisID® kit for direct detection of C. auris from surveillance samples without prior DNA extraction and to analyze the results of implementing this methodology to our daily laboratory routine protocol for C. auris surveillance studies. Methods Our PCR method using the AurisID® kit was compared with our routine protocol, con…
Epidemiology, clinical characteristics, resistance, and treatment of infections by Candida auris
2018
Abstract Candida spp. infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Candida auris is an emerging multi-drug-resistant fungus that is rapidly spreading worldwide. Since the first reports in 2009, many isolates across five continents have been identified as agents of hospital-associated infections. Independent and simultaneous outbreaks of C. auris are becoming a major concern for healthcare and scientific community. Moreover, laboratory misidentification and multi-drug-resistant profiles, rarely observed for other non-albicans Candida species, result in difficult eradication and frequent therapeutic failures of C. auris infections. The aim of this review…
On the Emergence of Candida auris: Climate Change, Azoles, Swamps, and Birds
2019
The most enigmatic aspect of the rise of Candida auris as a human pathogen is that it emerged simultaneously on three continents, with each clade being genetically distinct. Although new pathogenic fungal species are described regularly, these are mostly species associated with single cases in individuals who are immunosuppressed.The most enigmatic aspect of the rise of Candida auris as a human pathogen is that it emerged simultaneously on three continents, with each clade being genetically distinct. Although new pathogenic fungal species are described regularly, these are mostly species associated with single cases in individuals who are immunosuppressed. In this study, we used phylogeneti…
Global warming “heating up” the ICU through Candida auris infections: the climate changes theory
2019
The most enigmatic aspect of the rise of Candida auris as a human pathogen is that it emerged simultaneously on three continents, with each clade being genetically distinct. Although new pathogenic fungal species are described regularly, these are mostly species associated with single cases in individuals who are immunosuppressed.
What Do We Know about Candida auris? State of the Art, Knowledge Gaps, and Future Directions
2021
Candida auris has unprecedently emerged as a multidrug resistant fungal pathogen, considered a serious global threat due to its potential to cause nosocomial outbreaks and deep-seated infections with staggering transmissibility and mortality, that has put health authorities and institutions worldwide in check for more than a decade now. Due to its unique features not observed in other yeasts, it has been categorised as an urgent threat by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other international agencies. Moreover, epidemiological alerts have been released in view of the increase of healthcare-associated C. auris outbreaks in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This review su…
Impact of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Candidaemia, Invasive Aspergillosis and Antifungal Consumption in a Tertiary Hospital
2021
In addition to the increase in fungal infections that has been observed in the last few decades, it has been reported that severe clinical COVID-19 can increase the risk of invasive fungal infections. The main objective of this study was to evaluate if there had been an increase in candidaemia and invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) cases since the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Data were retrospectively collected from April 2019 to March 2021, from patients admitted to Consorcio Hospital General Universitario de Valencia (Spain). A total of 152 candidaemia cases (56 of which were due to Candida auris) and 108 possible IPA cases were detected. A great increase in candidaemia cases was…