ABSTRACT

Candida auris is an emerging yeast species that has the unique characteristics of patient skin colonization and rapid transmission within health care facilities and the ability to rapidly develop antifungal resistance. When C. auris first started to appear in clinical microbiology laboratories, it could be identified only by using DNA sequencing. In the decade since its first identification outside of Japan, there have been many improvements in the detection of C. auris. These include the expansion of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) databases to include C. auris, the development of both laboratory-developed tests and commercially available kits for its detection, and special CHROMagar for identification from laboratory specimens. Here we discuss the current tools and resources that are available for C. auris identification and detection.

SUMMARY

As more laboratories have focused on the identification of C. auris, the number of available tools for detection and identification has increased. However, not all laboratories can implement a laboratory-developed test, and many do not have access to MALDI-TOF MS or a Vitek 2 system. The number of alternative commercially available tests is still quite limited, which leaves definitive identification of C. auris as a send-out test in many facilities. An especially glaring deficiency is the lack of a point-of-care test for detection of C. auris colonization. This would be an important tool for the identification of colonized patients, which plays an important role in the implementation of infection control practices, especially in cities where C. auris has become endemic. Candida auris continues to spread across the United States and across the world, and it has become a notifiable disease in many U.S. states and municipalities. While we may only be able to slow the spread, more tools for its detection and identification will allow us to combat it at the point of individual patient care.