Candida auris infection

Candida auris infection refers to infection caused by Candida auris, an emerging multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen first reported in the literature from 2009 and subsequently documented in multiple countries ^[1][2]. The organism has been characterized as a nosocomial pathogen and as an urgent or global health threat in the reviewed sources ^[1][4][2]. One review notes that a fifth clade has been described, and whole-genome sequencing has been used to inform biology and epidemiology ^[5].

The sources associate Candida auris infection with high mortality and with candidemia, but they do not provide a detailed syndrome description beyond these broad features ^[1][2]. A systematic review further notes associations with diabetes, sepsis, lung disease, and kidney disease, although the material does not establish these as universal manifestations or causal complications ^[4]. The literature also emphasizes that the organism is difficult to identify, and misidentification in clinical laboratories is a recurring problem ^[1][5][2]. Overall, the clinical picture in the supplied sources is dominated by invasive healthcare-associated disease and adverse outcomes rather than by a finely characterized symptom profile ^[1][2].

Candida auris was first described in 2009 and has since been reported from multiple countries within a decade, indicating rapid international emergence ^[1][2]. The available sources emphasize healthcare-associated spread, including nosocomial transmission and hospital setting dissemination, rather than a broader community epidemiology ^[1][5][2]. Whole-genome sequencing studies have identified phylogeographic genotypes associated with particular geographic areas, suggesting regional structuring of spread ^[2]. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a meta-analysis found a pooled prevalence of 13% among COVID-19 patients and a pooled mortality estimate of 37%, but these figures should be interpreted within the included study set and not generalized beyond the reviewed context ^[4].

The supplied sources describe Candida auris as a transmissible nosocomial pathogen that spreads easily in hospital settings ^[5][1]. They also refer to factors involved in nosocomial transmission, environmental survival, and ecology, but do not provide a complete route-by-route transmission description in the provided text ^[1]. The evidence therefore supports healthcare-associated spread and the need to consider environmental persistence and laboratory detection issues, while more specific mechanism detail is not yet available from the snippets ^[1][5].

The sources identify immunecompromised persons as a group in whom nosocomial infection has been described ^[2]. They also report higher mortality in people with diabetes in a COVID-19-associated meta-analysis, and note associations with prolonged ICU admission and steroid exposure in that review ^[4]. Beyond these observations, the provided material does not supply a comprehensive or definitive risk-group list, so additional source-backed detail is not yet available ^[1][4].

The reviewed material points to screening, surveillance, and infection control as central responses, and notes that preventive control measures are paramount to interrupt transmission ^[3][2]. It also indicates that improved laboratory identification methods, including selective/differential media, MALDI-TOF MS database expansion, real-time PCR, and WGS, support earlier detection and tracking ^[5]. Beyond these broad measures, the provided sources do not specify particular decolonization, isolation, or environmental decontamination protocols, so source-backed detail is not yet available ^[5][3].

In surveillance terms, Candida auris should be read as an emerging, multidrug-resistant, healthcare-associated fungal threat with substantial potential for underrecognition because of identification difficulties and misclassification ^[1][5][2]. Whole-genome sequencing is specifically noted as useful for tracking nosocomial spread, phylogenetic relationships, and drug resistance ^[5]. Because the available sources emphasize international emergence, clade structure, and hospital transmission, surveillance should prioritize timely species confirmation and detection of clusters, while acknowledging that broader burden estimates remain limited in the supplied material ^[1][5][4].

1. 1 Chakrabarti A et al. Multidrug-resistant Candida auris: an epidemiological review. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2020 Jun. PMID: 32237924. doi: 10.1080/14787210.2020.1750368. PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32237924/
2. 2 Candida auris and Nosocomial Infection. Current Drug Targets. 2020. doi: 10.2174/1389450120666190924155631. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2174/1389450120666190924155631
3. 3 Candida auris screening, surveillance and infection control. http://isrctn.com/. 2025. doi: 10.1186/isrctn92548819. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/isrctn92548819
4. 4 Bagheri Lankarani K et al. Candida auris: outbreak fungal pathogen in COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Iran J Microbiol. 2022 Jun. PMID: 37124855. doi: 10.18502/ijm.v14i3.9753. PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37124855/
5. 5 Keighley C et al. Candida auris: Diagnostic Challenges and Emerging Opportunities for the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory. Curr Fungal Infect Rep. 2021. PMID: 34178208. doi: 10.1007/s12281-021-00420-y. PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34178208/
6. 6 Wikidata contributors. Candida auris Infection [Internet]. Wikidata. cited 20 May 2026. Available from: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q90714147

ICD-10

ICD-11

Total cases

6K

Peak month

2025-08

Coverage

1 reporting countries · 2020-05-30 → 2026-06-20