Candida auris: A rapidly emerging cause of hospital-acquired multidrug-resistant fungal infections globally

Abstract

Candidiasis, which includes both superficial infections and invasive disease, is the most common cause of fungal infection worldwide. Candida bloodstream infections (BSI) cause significant mortality and elicit a major threat to intensive care unit (ICU) patients [1]. The annual global burden of Candida spp. BSIs is about 400,000 cases, with most cases reported from the developed world. Although Candida albicans remains the most frequently isolated Candida species in the clinical setting, in some countries, a marked shift towards species of Candida that have increased resistance to azoles such as fluconazole (FLU), the standard antifungal drug of choice in many countries, and to the recently introduced antifungals known as echinocandins, is reported. Several species of non-albicans Candida, such as C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, and C. parapsilosis, are well-recognized pathogens in BSIs in different geographic locations. More recently, Candida auris, a multidrug-resistant (MDR) yeast that exhibits resistance to FLU and markedly variable susceptibility to other azoles, amphotericin B (AMB), and echinocandins, has globally emerged as a nosocomial pathogen (Fig 1) [2–20]. Alarmingly, in a span of only 7 years, this yeast, which is difficult to treat and displays clonal inter- and intra-hospital transmission, has become widespread across several countries, causing a broad range of healthcare-associated invasive infections.