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CDC awards Rutgers $300,000 to address C. auris
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Rutgers University will receive $300,000 over 2 years to combat the drug-resistant fungal infection caused by Candida auris, according to a press release.
According to the CDC, 153 confirmed and probable infections due to C. auris have been reported in the United States as of Sept. 18. C. auris infection, considered an emerging global threat, is difficult to identify, does not respond to commonly used antifungal therapy and has a high mortality rate, research suggests.
The funding, which is part of the CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative, will help researchers develop a new way to rapidly and accurately detect C. auris using swabs from patients and hospital environments, according to the release. Investigators will also use genetic fingerprint technology to assess transmission patterns in New Jersey health care settings.
“As reports of C. auris continue to mount within U.S. health care facilities, it is worrisome that the problem may grow much worse,” David Perlin, PhD, executive director of the Public Health Research Institute Center at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and member of the Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections, said in the release. “The keys to containing the epidemic are infection control, the development of molecular tools to reliably and rapidly identify the pathogen and a better understanding of its genetic profile that facilitates transmission within hospital environments.”
Disclosures: Infectious Disease News was unable to confirm any relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.