Expanded screening criteria helped a New York City hospital identify more patients who were colonized with the multidrug-resistant fungus.
Incidence of C auris infection and colonization tripled at Mount Sinai Hospital from 2019 through 2022.
Only 37% of infectious diseases practitioners said their facility screens patients for the drug-resistant fungus.
Four colonization cases have been reported in patients with links to the same long-term acute-care hospital.
Quaternary-ammonium disinfectants, which are widely used in US hospitals, were less effective.
One study finds a significant increase in C auris bloodstream infections in US hospitals.
Rise of the multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen was driven primarily by COVID-19 surges and mechanical ventilation, the authors say.
CDC researchers review 192 C auris–associated hospitalizations, including 38 C auris bloodstream infections (20%), and note a crude mortality rate of 34%.
Data collected from 88 Canadian hospitals from January 2017 through December 2021 show that rates of MRSA bloodstream infections rose 35%.
Risk factors include receiving intubation, a central venous line, or a drain, plus receipt of antifungal drugs within 7 days of admission.
