CANDIDA AURIS: INTRODUCTION AND CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MAINTAINING A SAFE PATIENT ENVIRONMENT

Marc-Oliver Wright
Marc-Oliver Wright, MT (ASCP), MS, CIC, FAPIC is the clinical science liaison for the central region at PDI, Inc. He began working in infection prevention 1999 including as corporate director of infection control and quality improvement for NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, Illinois. He is a board certified in infection prevention and is a Fellow of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). He has previously served APIC at the chapter level as president of the Chicago chapter, nationally as a member of the board of directors, as national Treasurer and editorial board member and section editor for the American Journal of Infection Control from 2009-2019 and has over 70 publications in the peer reviewed literature. He currently serves as Treasurer for APIC-Consulting.

Title
Candida Auris: Introduction and Current Recommendations for Maintaining a Safe Patient Environment
IPU Domain: Preventing/Controlling the Transmission of Infectious Agents

Description: This session will provide an overview of Candida auris epidemiology and recent trends across the US. The role the environment can/has played in transmission between patients, the essential environmental hygiene practices to contain colonized/infected patients from serving as a reservoir for direct and indirect transfer between patients. This session will include an overview of prior challenges for identifying the pathogen in hospital laboratories, the efficacy of supplemental disinfection strategies against C. auris and provide an overview the hierarchy of pathogens for determining appropriate disinfectants selection when novel or emerging pathogen testing is not available.

Objectives:

  1. Describe the hierarchy of pathogens for choosing a disinfectant​ 
  2. Describe the environmental cleaning practices for eradication of Candida auris and appropriate infection prevention practices for the healthcare setting​ 
  3. Describe the epidemiology of Candida auris 
  4. Outline the difficulties that exist identifying Candida auris in the laboratory