I was browsing pubmed this morning for updates related to C. auris from outside the UK, and came across this fascinating report from Saudi Arabia. Based on national notifications to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health, C. auris was the preeminent cause of HCAI outbreaks during 2023!

This observational study summarised all of the outbreaks reported to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health during 2023. A grand total of 1,240 outbreaks were reported. These included 2392 patients, 2703 infections, and 806 deaths. Outbreaks caused by fungi (mainly C. auris) and Gram-negative bacteria together accounted for 90% of the total. C. auris accounted from 30% of the outbreaks – more than any other pathogen!

There quite a bit of risk factor analysis included in the paper, but the data is pooled across all organisms (very understandably for the purposes of this study), so it doesn’t tells us a great deal about C. auris epidemiology. C. auris was significantly associated with colonisation vs. infection (whereas other organisms were significantly associated with infection). But we are not told about approached to screening, so this is not easy to qualify and interpret.

Perhaps the most concern aspect of the study was the month-on-month increase in the number of outbreaks. There were 25 fungal outbreaks (mainly C. auris) reported in January 2023, and 90 in December 2023, with a month-on-month increase in between!

So, C. auris is upon us from a global perspective, and it’s time to make local arrangements for identifying and managing patients with C. auris colonisation or infection, wherever in the world you are working!