Candida auris

Dear Colleagues,

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the first formal description of Candida auris, isolated from the external ear of a Japanese patient in 2009. Retrospective studies of culture collections of yeasts from before 2009 only showed single isolates from Korea in 1996 (the earliest known isolate to date) and from Pakistan in 2008. In a relatively short period, C. auris was able to spread all over the world, mainly in hospitals, being reported now from six continents and more than 35 countries. Several countries have reported persistent problems and prolonged outbreaks in healthcare facilities. Unlike other Candida spp., C. auris seems to colonize the skin of patients and can contaminate hospital environments.

C. auris is easily transmitted in healthcare settings and is the first fungus to behave like an epidemic nosocomial bacterial pathogen. Transmission within and between hospitals and nursing home facilities confronts us with major infection control challenges, prompting authorities in the US to declare colonization or infection with C. auris from 2019 onwards a notifiable disease. More than 90% of C. auris isolates are fluconazole resistant, with some rare isolates also being resistant to all three major antifungal classes, leaving no treatment options. A major explanation for the quick worldwide spread was that C. auris is often misidentified as other Candida spp., notably C. haemulonii, or Saccharomyces when phenotypical identification methods are used. Manufacturers are now working to solve this problem of routine identification, but molecular methods or MALDI-TOF can reliably identify C. auris. We invite you to submit your latest results on C. auris to this Special Issue of the Journal of Fungi.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jacques F. Meis
Dr. Anuradha Chowdhary
Guest Editors

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