Summary Objectives Characterization of a hospital outbreak of Candida auris candidemia that involved 18 critically ill patients in Venezuela. Method Bloodstream isolates of C. auris obtained from 18 ...patients admitted at a medical center in Maracaibo, between March, 2012 and July, 2013 were included. Species identification was confirmed by ITS rDNA sequencing. Isolates were subsequently typed by amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting (AFLP). Susceptibility testing was performed according to CLSI. Clinical data were collected from all cases by using a standard clinical form. Results A total of 13 critically ill pediatric and 5 adult patients, with a median age of 26 days, were included. All were previously exposed to antibiotics and multiple invasive medical procedures. Clinical management included prompt catheter removal and antifungal therapy. Thirteen patients (72%) survived up to 30 days after onset of candidemia. AFLP fingerprinting of all C. auris isolates suggested a clonal outbreak. The isolates were considered resistant to azoles, but susceptible to anidulafungin and 50% of isolates exhibited amphotericin B MIC values of >1 μg/ml. Conclusions The study demonstrated that C. auris is a multiresistant yeast pathogen that can be a source of health-care associated infections in tertiary care hospitals with a high potential for nosocomial horizontal transmission.
Summary Use of totally implantable venous-access ports (TIVAPs) is standard practice for patients with diseases such as solid-tumour cancers, haematological malignancies, and chronic digestive ...diseases. Use of TIVAPs allows long-term administration of venotoxic compounds, improves patients' quality of life, and reduces the risk of infection. Microbial contamination, formation of pathogenic biofilms, and infection, however, are associated with morbidity, mortality, and increased health-care costs. Local and systemic complications or infections related to specific pathogens might lead to device removal. Alternatively, conservative treatment with combined systemic antibiotics and antibiotic lock therapy might be useful. We discuss in-vitro and in-vivo basic and clinical research findings on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and prevention of TIVAP-related infections, the current challenges to management, promising strategies, and some treatments in development that are likely to improve outcomes of TIVAP-related infections, with a particular focus on antibiotic lock therapy.
Background
Critically ill COVID‐19 patients have a high risk for the development of candidemia due to being exposed to both well‐defined classical risk factors and COVID‐19‐specific risk factors in ...ICU.
Objectives
In this study, we investigated the incidence of candidemia in critically COVID‐19 patients, and the independent risk factors for candidemia.
Patients/methods
COVID‐19 patients hospitalised in ICU during 1‐year period (August 2020 to August 2021) were included. Clinical and laboratory characteristics of all COVID‐19 patients, applied treatments, and invasive procedures that may predispose to candidemia were recorded.
Results
Of 1229 COVID‐19 patients, 63 developed candidemia. Candidemia incidence rate was 4.4 episodes per 1000 ICU days. The most common species was Candida albicans (52.3%). Only 37 patients (58.7%) received antifungal therapy. The presence of central venous catheter (OR 4.7, 95% CI 1.8–12.2, p < .005), multifocal candida colonisation (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.4–5.2, p < .005), a prolonged ICU stay (≥14 days) (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.08–3–37, p < .05), the absence of chronic lung disease (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.1–0.9, p < .05) and the absence of corticosteroid use (OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.14–0.52, p < .0001) were significantly associated with candidemia.
Conclusions
Our study filled the knowledge gap in the literature about the impact of COVID‐19‐associated risk factors for the development of candidemia. The classical risk factors for candidemia had a significant effect on candidemia, and contrary to expectations, corticosteroids had a protective effect against the development of candidemia. The results of these studies showing interesting effects of corticosteroids in critically ill COVID‐19 patients should be confirmed by further studies.
Many uncommon Candida spp. (species other than C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, and C. krusei) have been shown to emerge in tertiary care facilities. We aimed to investigate ...these uncommon candidemia in children. Forty-six cases of candidemia caused by uncommon Candida spp. were identified during 2003-2015 from a medical center in Taiwan. The most common specie was C. guilliermondii (31.2%), followed by C. lusitaniae (18.8%) and C. metapsilosis (18.8%). These cases were analyzed and compared with 148 episodes of C. albicans candidemia. The incidence density of uncommon Candida spp. candidemia and the proportion to all candidemia episodes increased substantively during the study period. Prior exposure to azoles was uncommon in the 30 days prior to infection, but fluconazole resistant strains were significantly more common (n = 19, 41.3%). The increased incidence density of uncommon Candida spp. candidemia was associated with increasing use of antifungal agents. No differences in demographics, underlying comorbidities, risk factors, clinical features, dissemination, and 30-day mortality were found between uncommon Candida spp. and C. albicans candidemia. Patients with uncommon Candida spp. candidemia were more likely to require modifications in antifungal treatment and receive echinocandin drugs (43.5% vs 21.6%, p = 0.007). Candidemia caused by uncommon Candida spp. had poorer response to antifungal treatment, led to longer duration of candidemia (median 4.0 versus 2.5 days, p = 0.008), and had a higher treatment failure rate (56.5% vs 38.5%, p = 0.040).
Background
During the COVID pandemic, research has shown an increase in candidemia cases following severe COVID infection and the identification of risk factors associated with candidemia. However, ...there is a lack of studies that specifically explore clinical outcomes and mortality rates related to candidemia after COVID infection.
Objectives
The aim of this international study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes and identify factors influencing mortality in patients who developed candidemia during their COVID infection.
Patients/Methods
This study included adult patients (18 years of age or older) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and diagnosed with COVID‐associated candidemia (CAC). The research was conducted through ID‐IRI network and in collaboration with 34 medical centres across 18 countries retrospectively, spanning from the beginning of the COVID pandemic until December 2021.
Results
A total of 293 patients diagnosed with CAC were included. The median age of the patients was 67, and 63% of them were male. The most common Candida species detected was C. albicans. The crude 30‐day mortality rate was recorded at 62.4%. The logistic regression analysis identified several factors significantly impacting mortality, including age (odds ratio OR 1.04, 95% confidence interval CI 1.02–1.07, p < .0005), SOFA score (OR 1.307, 95% CI 1.17–1.45, p < .0005), invasive mechanical ventilation (OR 7.95, 95% CI 1.44–43.83, p < .017) and duration of mechanical ventilation (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.96–0.99, p < .020).
Conclusions
By recognising these prognostic factors, medical professionals can customise their treatment approaches to offer more targeted care, leading to improved patient outcomes and higher survival rates for individuals with COVID‐associated candidemia.
Background
The incidence of candidemia in our hospital has been stable over an 18‐year period (1.3 episodes per 1000 admissions). Since March 2020, we have observed an increase in cases of ...candidemia.
Methods
In March 2020, the hospital was prepared to receive patients with COVID‐19, with cancellation of elective procedures, discharge of less sick patients and the activation of beds for COVID‐19. We compared the incidence of candidemia in 2 periods: from January 2019 to February 2020 (period 1) and from March to September 2020 (period 2).
Results
We diagnosed 41 episodes of candidemia, 16 in period 1 and 25 in period 2 (9 COVID‐19 patients). Compared with non‐COVID‐19 patients, COVID‐19 patients with candidemia were more likely to be under mechanical ventilation (100% vs. 34.4%, P < .001). The median number of monthly admissions in period 1 and 2 was 723 (interquartile range 655‐836) and 523 (interquartile range 389‐574), respectively. The incidence of candidemia (per 1000 admissions) was 1.54 in period 1 and 7.44 in period 2 (P < .001). In period 2, the incidence of candidemia (per 1000 admissions) was 4.76 if we consider only cases of candidemia in non‐COVID‐19 patients, 2.68 if we consider only cases of candidemia in COVID‐19 patients and 14.80 considering only admissions of patients with COVID‐19.
Conclusions
The increase in the incidence of candidemia in our hospital may be attributed to 2 factors: a reduction in the number of admissions (denominator) and the occurrence of candidemia in COVID‐19 patients.
Summary
Multidrug‐resistant Candida auris has emerged as a cause of insidious hospital outbreaks and complicated infections. We present the analysis of an ongoing C. auris outbreak including the ...largest published series of C. auris bloodstream infection. All C. auris‐positive patients from April‐2016 to January‐2017 were included. Environmental, clinical and microbiological data were recorded. Definitive isolate identification was performed by ITS‐rDNA sequencing, and typing by amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting. One hundred and forty patients were colonised by C. auris during the studied period (68% from surgical intensive care). Although control measures were implemented, we were not able to control the outbreak. Forty‐one invasive bloodstream infections (87.8% from surgical intensive care) were included. Clinical management included prompt intravascular catheter removal and antifungal therapy with echinocandins. All isolates were fluconazole‐ and voriconazole‐resistant, but echinocandin‐ and amphotericin B‐susceptible. Thirty‐day mortality rate was 41.4%, and severe septic metastasis as spondylodiscitis and endocarditis were observed in 5 patients (12%). C. auris was also recovered from inanimate patient surroundings and medical equipment. Despite antifungal treatment, high mortality and late complication rates were recorded. Molecular typing suggested a clonal outbreak different from those previously published.
The European Confederation of Medical Mycology (ECMM) collected data on epidemiology, risk factors, treatment, and outcomes of patients with culture-proven candidaemia across Europe to assess how ...adherence to guideline recommendations is associated with outcomes.
In this observational cohort study, 64 participating hospitals located in 20 European countries, with the number of eligible hospitals per country determined by population size, included the first ten consecutive adults with culture-proven candidaemia after July 1, 2018, and entered data into the ECMM Candida Registry (FungiScope CandiReg). We assessed ECMM Quality of Clinical Candidaemia Management (EQUAL Candida) scores reflecting adherence to recommendations of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and the Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines.
632 patients with candidaemia were included from 64 institutions. Overall 90-day mortality was 43% (265/617), and increasing age, intensive care unit admission, point increases in the Charlson comorbidity index score, and Candida tropicalis as causative pathogen were independent baseline predictors of mortality in Cox regression analysis. EQUAL Candida score remained an independent predictor of mortality in the multivariable Cox regression analyses after adjusting for the baseline predictors, even after restricting the analysis to patients who survived for more than 7 days after diagnosis (adjusted hazard ratio 1·08 95% CI 1·04–1·11; p<0·0001 in patients with a central venous catheter and 1·09 1·05–1·13; p<0·0001 in those without one, per one score point decrease). Median duration of hospital stay was 15 days (IQR 4–30) after diagnosis of candidaemia and was extended specifically for completion of parenteral therapy in 100 (16%) of 621 patients. Initial echinocandin treatment was associated with lower overall mortality and longer duration of hospital stay among survivors than treatment with other antifungals.
Although overall mortality in patients with candidaemia was high, our study indicates that adherence to clinical guideline recommendations, reflected by higher EQUAL Candida scores, might increase survival. New antifungals, with similar activity as current echinocandins but with longer half-lives or oral bioavailability, are needed to reduce duration of hospital stay.
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