Emergence of multidrug-resistant and opportunistic fungal infections due to Candida auris in intensive care units.

Background and purpose: An increasing number of invasive infections due to multidrug-resistant Candida species have been reported worldwide. Among these Candida species, Candida auris has attracted more attention in recent years due to major outbreaks in healthcare facilities globally and is considered an emerging pathogen. This study was planned to observe the occurrence of C. auris infections in a tertiary care hospital in India.

Materials and methods: The clinical specimens were inoculated on Sabouraud dextrose agar along with other conventional culture media for aerobic culture based on specimen type. The blood culture was performed by BacT/ALERT 3D automated blood culture system. After preliminary identification, the species-level identification of Candida was performed by the VITEK-2 compact automated system from bioMerieux, France.

Results: Out of a total of 497 Candida isolates, 21.33% were Candida albicans, while 78.67% were non-albicans Candida species. Candida auris comprised 3.22% of all Candida isolates. Among various risk factors, intensive care unit stay was the most common risk factor associated with C. auris infection. The antifungal susceptibility data highlighted the resistance of C. auris against most of the antifungals except echinocandins.

Conclusion: Infections due to C. auris are emerging in hospital environments, especially among individuals having various risk factors. The resistant nature of C. auris further complicates the situation leading to frequent antifungal treatment failure.