The Incidence of Candida auris in the US

Snigdha Vallabhaneni, MD, MPH, Medical Epidemiologist, Mycotic Diseases Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, discusses the incidence of Candida auris in the United States.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“Currently, as of March 16, 2017, there have been 53 cases identified of Candida auris in the United States; a majority of those have been bloodstream infections and have occurred in [the] New York and New Jersey area, but we also have cases in Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts as well. We are very closely working with those health departments to track those cases, and make sure that containment efforts are in place for those cases.

What I can say about those cases is that they are generally very sick people who get Candida auris, like people who already have a number of underlying conditions and have extensive exposure to healthcare facilities. A lot of these patients had been hospitalized in more than three facilities in the 90 days prior to when they developed Candida auris infection. These patients have had extensive antibacterial exposure, as well as antifungal exposure, so, this is not an average person who gets this infection; it’s really already very sick people who have been in healthcare facilities for a long time.

Our patients have ranged from somewhere in their 20’s to 80’s. We have not seen any pediatric cases in the United States, but we have had reports of pediatric cases, especially from South America. It doesn’t mean that it can’t occur in pediatric cases in the US, but fortunately, we haven’t seen it so far.”