Clinician Alert to U.S. Healthcare Facilities: Global emergence of invasive infections caused by the multidrug-resistant yeast,

Candida auris

Clinical Alert: Global Emergence of Invasive Infections Caused by the Multidrug-resistant Yeast

Candida auris

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has received reports from international healthcare facilities that Candida auris, an emerging multidrug-resistant yeast, is causing invasive healthcare-associated infections with high mortality. Some strains of C. auris have elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) to the three major classes of antifungals, severely limiting treatment options. C. auris requires specialized methods for identification and could be misidentified as another yeast when relying on traditional biochemical methods. CDC is aware of one isolate of C. auris that was detected in the United States in 2013 as part of ongoing surveillance. Experience outside the United States suggests that C. auris has high potential to cause outbreaks in healthcare facilities. Given the occurrence of C. auris in nine countries on four continents since 2009, CDC is alerting U.S. healthcare facilities to be on the lookout for C. auris in patients.

Please read CDC’s recommendations for identifying and managing patients with C. auris: http://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/candidiasis/candida-auris-alert.html

CDC’s recent clinical alerts:

• B. cepacia ALERT – CDC Recommends Clinicians Immediately Stop Using Liquid Docusate for Certain Patients: http://www.cdc.gov/hai/outbreaks/b-cepacia/index.html
• mcr-1 ALERT – First mcr-1 Gene in E. coli Bacteria found in a Human in the United States: http://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00390.asp