Healthy travelers at low risk for acquiring C. auris, study suggests
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
A culture-based protocol implemented to screen healthy United States travelers for Candida auris suggested that travelers are not likely to acquire the aggressive and often drug-resistant fungus while abroad, according to data presented at ASM Microbe.
“We have an ongoing study looking at the acquisition of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in travelers, and our interim data analysis from that [study] shows that almost 40% of people will acquire an MDRO during travel,” Margaret Becker, a research technician at Massachusetts General Hospital, told Healio. “This led us to question whether travel was a risk factor for acquisition of other pathogens, such as Candida auris.”
Becker and colleagues assessed a cohort of healthy U.S. international travelers — predominantly from the Boston area — who were enrolled at the Massachusetts General Hospital travel clinic to determine if they were likely to acquire C. auris during travel. Following CDC protocol, they used culture-based screening to determine acquisition.
Becker explained that this approach is more time consuming than a molecular technique but could be implemented for surveillance in labs without extensive training and without the need to purchase much equipment.
According to the researchers, among the 94 study subjects returning from international travel, none acquired C. auris during their travels, although three visited a health care facility. None of the travelers were hospitalized.
Becker said there have been reported cases of C. auris transmission in people who have been hospitalized outside the U.S., suggesting that hospitalization in areas where C. auris isolation has occurred is a risk factor for transmission. She said the study does not address the potential risk factor for travelers who actively seek medical attention.
“Our study suggests that healthy travelers are at low risk for C. auris acquisition during travel,” she said.
Collapse
Becker M, et al. Evaluation and implementation of a Candida auris screening protocol for U.S. international travelers. Presented at: ASM Microbe; June 18-20, 2020 (virtual meeting).
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts