A new 2022 special report from the CDC is sounding the alarm that antimicrobial resistance to some of the most concerning bacteria and fungi significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (1) One such highly drug resistant yeast noted in the report is Candida auris that shows clinical cases rose more than 60% in 2020 compared to 2019. Acute care hospitals saw more outbreaks of C. auris in 2020 than previous years, especially in COVID-19 units. Post-acute care facilities were heavily impacted by C. auris during the pandemic. Since 2018, when reporting began, there have been 4,616 cases of which about half were fatal.(4)
The CDC attributes the rise in C. auris cases during the height of the pandemic to the result of staffing and supply shortages, the increased number of seriously ill patients, and changes in infection prevention and control practices. Hardy Diagnostics HardyCHROM™ Candida + auris chromogenic agar plate allows laboratories to easily identify C. auris with a color read out of teal to teal-green colonies with a distinct “bullseye” and shows a unique fluorogenic reaction under UV light. This medium will also identify C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, C. albicans, and C. krusei. UC Irvine presented a scientific poster at ASM Microbe. We invite you to view the poster here.
