Published in:
Open Access
01-12-2019 | Editorial
The global challenge of Candida auris in the intensive care unit
Authors:
Andrea Cortegiani, Giovanni Misseri, Antonino Giarratano, Matteo Bassetti, David Eyre
Published in:
Critical Care
|
Issue 1/2019
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Excerpt
Since the first isolation of
Candida auris in 2009, scientific community has witnessed an exponential emergence of infection episodes and outbreaks in different world regions [
1]. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 560 cases of
C. auris infections have been notified in the United States as 31 January 2019. It is likely that many cases are missed, due to its misidentification with other non-
albicans Candida spp. (e.g.,
C. haemulonii) by common microbiological diagnostic methods (
https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/candidiasis/tracking-c-auris.html). Most of the reports occurred in critically ill adults, with risk factors for invasive fungal infections, such as immunosuppression, surgery, or indwelling catheters. The most common form of infection was candidemia, with a crude mortality of nearly 30%, but up to 70% in some reports [
2]. …