The researchers examined 16 strains of C. auris collected from infected patients in Germany, Japan, Korea and India. They tested the isolates against 11 drugs, belonging to different classes of antifungals. They published the study in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
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Here are five finding from the study.
1. Most samples of the fungus were at least partially resistant to the drugs.
2. However, low concentrations of SCY-078, an investigational drug, proved successful in distorting the fungus and impairing its growth.
3. C. auris typically forms biofilms on catheters in intensive care units. These biofilms are relatively thin and can be weakened when exposed to the investigational drug.
4. C. auris does not germinate and produce spores like other fungi.
5. Only certain strains of C. auris produce enzymes that usually help fungi establish infections in body tissue.
“It is multidrug-resistant, and some strains isolated from patients are resistant to all commercially available antifungal drugs. Multidrug-resistance used to be reported for bacteria only, and now we must add fungi to the list,” said Mahmoud Ghannoum, PhD, professor and director of the Center for Medical Mycology at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center.
The CDC recently updated its issued recommendations to prevent C. auris infections. One of the major updates is a recommendation to clean rooms of C. auris-infected patients every day and post-discharge with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-registered disinfectant that is effective against Clostridium difficile.
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