Candida auris is an emerging antimicrobial-resistant yeast that was first identified in 2009 in Asia and began spreading in the United States in 2015. It can cause severe infections and spreads easily between hospitalized patients and nursing home residents. C. auris is often multidrug-resistant and some strains are resistant to all three major classes of antifungal medications. In 2019, CDC declared C. auris as one of the urgent (highest level) antimicrobial resistance threats in the United States. It is still rare in the United States, but cases have been increasing nationwide with 8,131 C. auris cases (clinical and screening cases) detected in the US in 2022 as compared to 323 in 2018. In July 2024, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) was notified of a clinical case of C. auris in a non-Kansas resident admitted to a Kansas hospital. After screening potential health care contacts, one additional person has tested positive. KDHE is issuing this health alert to ensure that health care personnel are aware the transmission dynamics, risk factors, diagnostic challenges and treatment recommendations for C. auris.
In the video, Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System, explains how common C. auris is in our environment, how high the risk is for contracting the disease, who is most likely to catch it and the best way to reduce the chance of getting the disease.