Cloud-based surveillance detects substantial increase in C. auris
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Key takeaways:
- In March, CDC researchers reported a 95% increase in cases of Candida auris in the U.S. from 2020 to 2021.
- Data presented at a microbiology meeting indicate that cases have increased further over the last year.
HOUSTON — Data from a cloud-based surveillance system showed a substantial increase in cases of Candida auris in the United States during a recent 6-month period, researchers reported at ASM Microbe.
It was the most recent signal that the aggressive and often multidrug-resistant fungus continues to spread in the U.S.
Image: Adobe Stock
This past March, scientists from the CDC’s Mycotic Diseases Branch warned that cases of C. auris had increased by 95% from 2020 to 2021. Surges were recorded not only in areas of the U.S. with established transmission, but also in areas that had seen minimal or no previous cases, they reported.
“The rapid rise and geographic spread of cases is concerning and emphasizes the need for continued surveillance, expanded lab capacity, quicker diagnostic tests and adherence to proven infection prevention and control,” Meghan Lyman, MD, a CDC epidemiologist and lead author of the study, said in a statement when it was published.
According to the CDC, more than 8,100 cases of C. auris were detected in the U.S. in 2022. Most infections are associated with spread in — and between — health care facilities.
Past research has shown that surfaces near patients hospitalized with C. auris are commonly re-contaminated within hours or cleaning or disinfection. Earlier this year, poorly cleaned equipment used in the adults wings of a hospital in Nevada was identified as the cause the first cluster of C. auris among children in the U.S.
“CDC has deemed C. auris an urgent [antimicrobial resistance] threat, because it is often resistant to multiple antifungal drugs, spreads easily in health care facilities, and can cause severe infections with high death rates,” the CDC said in March.
For the new study, researchers from the French biotech company bioMérieux retrospectively analyzed U.S. blood cultures that came up positive for C. auris between July 2020 and March 2023 at 13 sites in 11 states.
Over the course of the study period, the data showed a substantial increase in the test positivity rate — from 0.014% between July 2020 and September 2022 to 0.057% in samples collected between October 2022 and March of this year, the researchers reported.
The tests were performed on bioMérieux’s BioFire BCID2 blood culture identification panel, and data were collected for the study from BioFire Syndromic Trends, a cloud-based surveillance network.
“The study results confirm that we must continue to emphasize public health interventions under the leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in order to meet the continuing challenge posed by antimicrobial-resistant C. auris and protect community health,” Tristan T. Timbrook, PharmD, MPH, director of health economics outcomes research at bioMérieux, said in a press release announcing the findings.
Timbrook said the “near real-time surveillance provided by” the BioFire products could help monitor trends in C. auris.
References:
- CDC. Tracking Candida auris. https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/candida-auris/tracking-c-auris.html. Last reviewed Feb, 14, 2023. Accessed June 18, 2023.
- Increasing threat of spread of antimicrobial-resistant fungus in health care facilities. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2023/p0320-cauris.html. Published March 20, 2023. Accessed June 18, 2023.
- Lyman M, et al. Ann Intern Med. 2023;doi:10.7326/M22-3469.
- Timbrook T, et al. Candida auris rates in blood culture on the rise: Results of US surveillance data. Presented at: ASM Microbe; June 15-19, 2023; Houston.
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Timbrook T, et al. Candida auris rates in blood culture on the rise: Results of US surveillance data. Presented at: ASM Microbe; June 15-19, 2023; Houston.
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