Under an expanded screening protocol, Mount Sinai Brooklyn screened all 591 patients who were admitted from a nursing home between January 2022 and September 2023. Under the previous protocol, patients were screened only if they had been transferred from a nursing facility known to have cared for residents infected with the multidrug-resistant fungus.
The expanded screening criteria enabled the team to identify eight cases that would have gone underdiagnosed under the previous protocols, according to the findings, which were published Oct. 31 in the American Journal of Infection Control.
Overall, experts identified 14 cases, or 2.4% of patients screened under the broadened criteria, who tested positive for C. auris. Upon screening, nine of those cases were considered high risk while five were considered low.
“Broader screening not only identifies cases early, but also allows for targeted precautions, reducing the risk of hospital-based outbreaks,” Scott Lorin, MD, study author and president of Mount Sinai Brooklyn, said in a news release on the findings. “The implementation of proactive protocols, based on community prevalence rates, can be a key tool in controlling the spread of this emerging global health threat.”
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