TY - JOUR
T1 - Candida auris outbreak
T2 - Mortality, interventions and cost of sustaining control
AU - Taori, Surabhi K.
AU - Khonyongwa, Kirstin
AU - Hayden, Iain
AU - Athukorala, GID Dushyanthie AD
AU - Letters, Andrew
AU - Fife, Amanda
AU - Desai, Nergish
AU - Borman, Andrew
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The British Infection Association
PY - 2019/12
Y1 - 2019/12
N2 - Objective: Candida auris has recently emerged as a global cause of multidrug resistant fungal outbreaks. An outbreak occurred at a tertiary care center in London in 2016. Transmission characteristics, interventions, patient outcomes and cost of resources are described. Methods: Outbreak interventions included patient isolation, contact screening, single-use equipment, environmental screening and decontamination, staff education, and enhanced surveillance. Risk factors for infection were recorded. Survival probabilities of patients with C. auris and other Candida bloodstream infections (BSI) were calculated. Antifungal susceptibility and epidemiological typing were performed. Actual and opportunity costs of interventions were determined. Results: 34 patients acquired the organism including 8 with BSI. Clinical infection was significantly associated with prolonged hospital stay, haemodialysis and antifungal therapy. Variable susceptibility to amphotericin and the triazoles was seen and isolates clustered with the South Asian strains. No significant difference was detected in the survival probabilities of C. auris BSI compared to other candidemias. Outbreak control cost in excess of £1 million and £58,000/month during the subsequent year. Conclusion: C. auris outbreaks can be controlled by a concerted infection control strategy but can be expensive. Transmission maybe prolonged due to patient movements and unidentified transmission mechanisms.
AB - Objective: Candida auris has recently emerged as a global cause of multidrug resistant fungal outbreaks. An outbreak occurred at a tertiary care center in London in 2016. Transmission characteristics, interventions, patient outcomes and cost of resources are described. Methods: Outbreak interventions included patient isolation, contact screening, single-use equipment, environmental screening and decontamination, staff education, and enhanced surveillance. Risk factors for infection were recorded. Survival probabilities of patients with C. auris and other Candida bloodstream infections (BSI) were calculated. Antifungal susceptibility and epidemiological typing were performed. Actual and opportunity costs of interventions were determined. Results: 34 patients acquired the organism including 8 with BSI. Clinical infection was significantly associated with prolonged hospital stay, haemodialysis and antifungal therapy. Variable susceptibility to amphotericin and the triazoles was seen and isolates clustered with the South Asian strains. No significant difference was detected in the survival probabilities of C. auris BSI compared to other candidemias. Outbreak control cost in excess of £1 million and £58,000/month during the subsequent year. Conclusion: C. auris outbreaks can be controlled by a concerted infection control strategy but can be expensive. Transmission maybe prolonged due to patient movements and unidentified transmission mechanisms.
KW - Emerging infections
KW - Expense
KW - Fungal outbreaks
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85073262701&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jinf.2019.09.007
DO - 10.1016/j.jinf.2019.09.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 31557493
AN - SCOPUS:85073262701
SN - 0163-4453
VL - 79
SP - 601
EP - 611
JO - Journal of Infection
JF - Journal of Infection
IS - 6
ER -