Candida auris (C. auris) cases have been reported in multiple healthcare facilities in Michigan, including acute care hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. Auris is a yeast pathogen that can cause serious illness or invasive infections, including bloodstream infections. C. auris can spread from colonized or infected patients to the hands and clothes of healthcare personnel or to medical equipment and environmental surfaces, which may contribute to the spread of C. auris among patients in healthcare facilities.
With a continued increase in C. auris cases across Southeast Michigan, receiving healthcare facilities should take steps to learn a patient’s C. auris status and be prepared to implement setting-appropriate precautions when needed for C. auris, as they would for other multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO).
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) recommends that Michigan healthcare facilities across the continuum implement the following infection prevention and control measures to prevent the spread of C. auris:
- Take steps to identify patients with C. auris infection or colonization.
- Be prepared to implement setting-appropriate infection prevention precautions, including the use of disinfect products effective against C. auris (see the EPA List P).
- Collaborate with public health partners on recommended infection prevention practices and screening procedures to facilitate timely and accurate detection of C. auris.
MDHHS also recommends the following measures for interfacility patient transfers:
- Review both internal and external protocols to ensure the appropriate persons (including case managers, admissions coordinators, front-line clinical HCP, and transporters) are made aware of a patients’ C. auris and other MDRO status upon transfer.
- Use an interfacility transfer form to communicate infection prevention information for all discharges to other settings. For Facility Transfer Resources and more information on HAIs, please go to Michigan.gov/HAI.
To learn more about C. auris contact the MDHHS Surveillance for Healthcare-Associated and Resistance Pathogens (SHARP) Unit. Members are encouraged to register for future SHARP webinars about C. auris.
Members with questions may contact Kelsey Ostergren at the MHA.