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Drug‑Resistant Fungus Candida Auris Reported in 27 States

Health officials say surface persistence plus antifungal resistance are making infection control harder in hospitals and nursing homes.

Petri dish containing a culture of Candida auris. (CDC)
The director of the National Reference Centre for Invasive Fungus Infections, Oliver Kurzai, holding in his hands a petri dish holding the yeast candida auris in a laboratory of Wuerzburg University in Wuerzburg, Germany, 23 January 2018. There has been a recent rise of cases in Germany of seriously ill patients becoming infected with the dangerous yeast candida auris.

Overview

  • Federal data show 3,437 clinical Candida auris cases in 27 states as of the week ending July 25, reflecting mid‑July snapshots that updated earlier counts.
  • The fungus spreads mainly in health‑care settings because it can live on skin and contaminate surfaces for weeks, which lets people who carry it without symptoms pass it on.
  • A CDC analysis of 2022–2023 samples found more than 95% of isolates resist the azole drug fluconazole, about 15% resist amphotericin B, roughly 1% resist echinocandins, and fewer than 1% resist all three major drug classes.
  • Most infections are treated with echinocandins today, but the emergence of echinocandin‑resistant strains and strains resistant to multiple classes limit options for some patients.
  • Health agencies are pushing faster detection, routine screening of high‑risk patients, strict isolation and use of EPA‑approved disinfectants, a response that will increase lab demand and add strain to hospitals and long‑term care facilities.