Candida auris Direct Detection from Surveillance Swabs, Blood, and Urine Using a Laboratory-Developed PCR Method
by
Robert C. Walchak 1, Seanne P. Buckwalter 1, Nicole M. Zinsmaster 1, Katrina M. Henn 1, Katelyn M. Johnson 1, Jolene M. Koelsch 1, Senait A. Herring 1, Lory K. Steinmetz 1, Katelyn A. Reed 2, Jean E. Barth 3, Jenna M. Rasmusson 3, Jill L. Fischer 4, Paula Snippes Vagnone 4, Priya Sampathkumar 3 and Nancy L. Wengenack 1,*
Robert C. Walchak 1, Seanne P. Buckwalter 1, Nicole M. Zinsmaster 1, Katrina M. Henn 1, Katelyn M. Johnson 1, Jolene M. Koelsch 1, Senait A. Herring 1, Lory K. Steinmetz 1, Katelyn A. Reed 2, Jean E. Barth 3, Jenna M. Rasmusson 3, Jill L. Fischer 4, Paula Snippes Vagnone 4, Priya Sampathkumar 3 and Nancy L. Wengenack 1,*
1
Division of Clinical Microbiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55902, USA
2
Research and Innovation Office, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55902, USA
3
Infection Prevention and Control, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55902, USA
4
Public Health Laboratory, Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, MN 55164, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
J. Fungi 2020, 6(4), 224; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof6040224
Received: 8 September 2020 / Revised: 9 October 2020 / Accepted: 10 October 2020 / Published: 15 October 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Candida auris 2.0)
Candida auris is an emerging fungal pathogen with cases reported in countries around the world and in 19 states within the United States as of August 2020. The CDC has recommended that hospitals perform active surveillance upon admission for patients with the appropriate risk factors. Currently, active surveillance requires that local hospitals send surveillance swabs to a public health laboratory for analysis. In this work, a real-time PCR assay was developed for the specific detection of C. auris from surveillance swabs, blood, and urine to enable rapid detection of this pathogen. The assay uses commercially available primers and reporter probes and it was verified on the LightCycler 480 PCR platform. Contrived specimens and prospectively collected composite groin/axilla surveillance swabs were used to validate the assay. The performance of the PCR assay on surveillance swabs was also compared to a second PCR assay targeting C. auris that was performed at the Minnesota Department of Health–Public Health Laboratory (MDH-PHL). Our PCR assay is able to detect and differentiate C. auris from closely related Candida species such as C. duobushaemulonii, C. haemulonii, and C. pseudohaemulonii on the basis of melting curve temperature differences.
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Keywords:
Candida auris; PCR; surveillance; yeast; identification
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Walchak, R.C.; Buckwalter, S.P.; Zinsmaster, N.M.; Henn, K.M.; Johnson, K.M.; Koelsch, J.M.; Herring, S.A.; Steinmetz, L.K.; Reed, K.A.; Barth, J.E.; Rasmusson, J.M.; Fischer, J.L.; Snippes Vagnone, P.; Sampathkumar, P.; Wengenack, N.L. Candida auris Direct Detection from Surveillance Swabs, Blood, and Urine Using a Laboratory-Developed PCR Method. J. Fungi 2020, 6, 224.
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