The emerging multidrug-resistant fungus, Candida auris, has been reported in the United States, England, and a number of other countries in recent years after first reported in Japan in 2009.

Image/CDC
Image/CDC

Now, researchers from Colombia report 17 cases in the country. The 17 clinical isolates of C. auris were recovered from 17 patients hospitalized in 6 institutions in the northern region of Colombia from February through July 2016, according to a letter published in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The cases were originally misclassified but correctly identified 27.5 days later on average. Patients with a delayed diagnosis of C. auris had a 30-day mortality rate of 35.2%.

Of the 17 patients, 9 were men (52.9%); age range was 0–77 years (median 36 years). Fifteen (88.2%) were hospitalized in intensive care units and 2 in medical wards; no patients were transferred between hospitals.

Blood samples from 13 (76.4%) patients showed fungemia; for the remaining 4, C. auris was isolated from peritoneal fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, bone, or urine.

Most patients required a central venous catheter, a urinary catheter, and mechanical ventilation. The 30-day mortality rate in all patients was 35.2% (6 deaths); in those with fungemia, it was 38.4% (5 deaths).

In addition to many isolates of C. auris being misidentified, in several countries have shown varying levels of resistance to all three major classes of antifungal medicines (azoles, echinocandins, and polyenes) used to treat Candida infections.

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