Topic covered:
- Issues related to health.
Candida auris infection
What to study?
For Prelims and Mains: candida auris infection- causes, symptoms, spread and treatment.
Context: ICMR releases guidelines for candida auris infection and treatment.
What is Candida auris?
- Candida auris (C. auris) is an emerging multidrug-resistant yeast. Public health authorities in several countries have reported that C. auris has caused severe illness in hospitalized patients.
- Infections caused by C. auris often do not respond to commonly used antifungal drugs, making them difficult to treat. Also, C. auris can persist on surfaces in healthcare environments and spread between patients in healthcare facilities.
- Patients who have a long stay in an intensive care unit, have serious medical conditions, and who have previously received antibiotics or antifungal medications, appear to be at highest risk of infection.
Spread:
- auris can be spread in healthcare settings through contact with contaminated surfaces or equipment, or from physical contact with a person who is infected or colonized.
How can the spread of C. auris be prevented?
- Meticulous attention to infection prevention and control, including good hand hygiene (either hand washing with soap and water or hand sanitizing with an alcohol-based hand rub), is critical for everyone including healthcare personnel and healthcare facility visitors.
- It is important that healthcare personnel strictly follow infection prevention and control measures, such as the proper use of gowns and gloves. When visiting a healthcare facility, visitors must follow facility directions to prevent the spread of infection.
- Finally, appropriate and effective environmental cleaning and disinfection by the healthcare facility is a key part of infection prevention and control.
Is C. auris treatable?
Most C. auris infections are treatable with antifungal drugs. However, some C. auris infections have been resistant to all three main classes of antifungal medications, making them more difficult to treat.
Sources: toi.
