Candida auris as a pathogen that can cause emerging infectious disease: a literature review

Abstract

Candida auris is a fungal pathogen that can cause emerging infectious disease and infections related to health services (healthcare-associated infections) and threaten global health. It is one of the causes of candidemia, which has been connected to outbreaks and high mortality rates in medical facilities all over the world. Hospitalized patients who are critically ill, primarily in intensive care unit settings, account for the majority of reported infections. C. auris can be multi-resistant to various antifungal classes commonly used to treat other Candida infections. Invasive infection due to C. auris causes high mortality and morbidity rates. C. auris easily survives long enough in the surrounding environment to cause the rapid spread of outbreaks in health facilities. The critical need for novel, candidate antifungal medicines for C. auris therapies is driven by the pathogenicity, drug resistance, and widespread distribution of C. auris. In limiting the spread of C. auris, prompt investigations and aggressive interventions are required. These include alerting public health agencies, implementing contact precautions, thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting the environment, performing infection control assessments, tracing and screening contacts for colonization, reviewing the history of microbiology tests, and conducting prospective surveillance for cases at labs. C. auris poses a unique challenge in clinical settings due to its identification challenges, multidrug resistance traits, evolution of virulence factors, associated high patient fatality rates, and long-term survival on surfaces in the environment. This study aims to understand the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, characteristics, virulence factors, methods of identification, therapy and prevention control of infection by C. auris.