If you haven ’ t already encountered this organism in your facility , you will likely be encountering it at some point , so it would be a good opportunity now to review your protocols and those issued by health authorities for managing C . auris in healthcare facilities .”
for C . auris can be found on the skin , colonizing areas that are warm and have high salt concentration , so areas like the axilla and the groin will probably give you the highest yield ; other areas include the nares , the ears and wounds , lines and drains .”
Leung acknowledged the difficulty that clinicians have experienced in keeping up with surveillance of C . auris . “ This is due in part to limitations of the clinical labs to identify yeasts that are isolated from non-sterile environments . Many of these labs lack access to mass spectrometry to diagnose this pathogen rapidly and accurately , and so it may still be misidentified . The problem is that C . auris poses a high mortality rate when it ’ s detected in the blood , and it is highly transmissible in the environment and between patients . Studies have shown that on plastic surfaces it can last up to two weeks , but for viable-but-not-culturable ( VBNC ) organisms in the environment , it can last up to four weeks .”
He added , “ That ’ s why it requires a comprehensive examination of the different ways to detect and control this pathogen . One
strategy that I encourage all of you to do at your facilities is think about whether you have had a case of C . auris , and if so , carefully review how you managed it to determine if your screening methods were appropriate . Talk with your clinical lab to determine what methods they used for isolating this pathogen , and how long were you screening for it ? Use mobile or contact tracing mechanisms as well . If you haven ’ t already encountered this organism in your facility , you will likely be encountering it at some point , so it would be a good opportunity now to review your protocols and those issued by health authorities for managing C . auris in healthcare facilities . The biggest challenge is detection of asymptomatic colonization , so , one of the first things to identify in your facility is the protocol used to screen patients , and which risk factors are you using ? For example , is it travel to a particular area or receiving healthcare outside of the country , or receiving healthcare in a facility that has previously had documented C . auris outbreaks ? How many of those risk
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