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Sporicidal, hydrogen peroxide disinfectants effective against multidrug-resistant C. auris
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Researchers investigating the activity of commercial and common household disinfectants against Candida found that sporicidal and improved hydrogen peroxide cleaners were highly effective in reducing several types of species, including multidrug-resistant Candida auris.
Curtis J. Donskey, MD, professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University and staff physician in the infectious diseases section at Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, and colleagues previously found that Candida species were often recovered from the hospital environment, especially from moist surfaces such as sinks. These findings support the theory that the environment may be an “important source” for Candida transmission, the researchers wrote in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. However, they concluded that additional data were needed to determine the activity of different disinfectants against Candida species.
For their more recent study, Donskey and colleagues examined the efficacy of nine commercial disinfectants and white distilled vinegar against four C. albicans strains, three C. glabrata strains and five C. auris strains, three of which were drug resistant. For comparison, they also assessed the efficacy of these disinfectants against three strains of MRSA.
The researchers reported that three bleach disinfectants — OxyCide, Clorox Healthcare hydrogen peroxide cleaner disinfectant and Oxivir TB — reduced Candida by 5 log CFU or more. The efficacy of the disinfectants was similar among all the Candida species and MRSA strains. However, vinegar, Purell Healthcare surface disinfectant (Gojo) and two quaternary ammonium disinfectants were significantly less active against Candida vs. MRSA (P .02), which the researchers said is “concerning” because these cleaners are commonly used.
“Interim recommendations from the CDC have specified that an EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectant effective against [Clostridium difficile] spores be used for C. auris,” the researchers wrote. “Our results provide support for that recommendation but also demonstrate that nonsporicidal improved hydrogen peroxide disinfectants are highly active against Candida species, including C. auris.” – by Stephanie Viguers
Disclosure: Donskey reports receiving research grants from Altapure, Clorox, EcoLab, GOJO and Merck, and serves on advisory boards for 3M and Synthetic Biologics.
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