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Case of Candida auris Identified From the External Ear Canal of a Healthy Minnesota Outpatient With Travel to South Korea
- Brittany Pattee, Laura Tourdot, Amanda Beaudoin, Jennifer Dale, Jill Fischer, Leslie Lovett, Jacy Walters, Jonathan Alpern, Keely Ellyson
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- Journal:
- Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology / Volume 41 / Issue S1 / October 2020
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 November 2020, pp. s16-s17
- Print publication:
- October 2020
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Background:Candida auris is a globally emerging, multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen that causes healthcare-associated outbreaks and can be misidentified in clinical laboratories. Most US C. auris cases occur in hospitalized or long-term care patients with underlying medical conditions. Also, 4 global phylogenetic C. auris clades largely cluster geographically. Receiving health care abroad is a risk factor for US C. auris cases. In December 2019, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) confirmed Minnesota’s first C. auris case, isolated from the external ear canal of a healthy young adult outpatient with right-sided otitis externa. We describe the investigation and response for this uncommon US presentation of C. auris. Methods: The MDH initiated mandatory reporting and submission of confirmed or possible C. auris isolates in August 2019. The MDH Public Health Laboratory (MDH-PHL) confirmed C. auris by MALDI-TOF (Bruker) from an isolate submitted by a hospital laboratory as C. duobushaemulonii to rule out C. auris. The MDH-PHL performed broth microdilution antifungal susceptibility testing (AFST). The CDC Mycotics Diseases Branch laboratory performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS). The MDH epidemiologists obtained a patient history through interviews with healthcare staff and the patient, and they collected environmental samples from otoscopes. The MDH-PHL tested environmental samples by C. auris RT-PCR and culture. The MDH recommended disinfection of examination rooms and otoscopes and 3 months of C. auris surveillance for patients evaluated with otoscopes who later returned with otic inflammation. Swabs from the patient’s axilla, groin, and external ear canals were tested for C. auris by PCR at the MDH-PHL. Results: The patient reported recurrent right ear infections in 2016 during a 16-month visit to South Korea, with treatment in multiple ENT clinics. December 2019 otitis resolved after treatment with oral amoxicillin/clavulanate and otic ciprofloxacin/dexamethasone. AFST showed resistance to fluconozale and susceptibility to 8 antifungals, including echinocandins. WGS placed the isolate in the East Asian clade, indicating similarity to isolates from South Korea and Japan. Environmental cultures were negative. The asymptomatic left ear was colonized with C. auris; other sites were negative. As of January29, 2020, no additional cases were detected. Conclusions: We identified prolonged colonization of C. auris in the external ear canals of a healthy patient. WGS and travel in South Korea, including ENT clinic exposure, provide strong evidence of C. auris acquisition in South Korea. No spread has been reported in Minnesota. Deliberate communication with clinical laboratories regarding ruling out C. auris was key to case discovery. Clinicians should be aware of C. auris epidemiology, including healthcare exposure abroad, particularly in young, healthy patients.
Funding: None
Disclosures: None
Evaluation of Discrepancies in Carbapenem Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations Obtained at Clinical Laboratories Compared to a Public Health Laboratory
- Julian E. Grass, Shelley S. Magill, Isaac See, Uzma Ansari, Lucy E. Wilson, Elisabeth Vaeth, Paula Snippes Vagnone, Brittany Pattee, Jesse T. Jacob, Georgia Emerging Infections Program, Chris Bower, Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Foundation for Atlanta Veterans Education and Research, Sarah W. Satola, Sarah J. Janelle, Kyle Schutz, Rebecca Tsay, Marion A. Kainer, Daniel Muleta, P. Maureen Cassidy, Vivian H. Leung, Meghan Maloney, Erin C. Phipps, New Mexico Emerging Infections Program, Kristina G. Flores, New Mexico Emerging Infections Program, Erin Epson, Joelle Nadle, Maria Karlsson, Joseph D. Lutgring
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- Journal:
- Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology / Volume 41 / Issue S1 / October 2020
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 November 2020, pp. s474-s476
- Print publication:
- October 2020
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Background: Automated testing instruments (ATIs) are commonly used by clinical microbiology laboratories to perform antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST), whereas public health laboratories may use established reference methods such as broth microdilution (BMD). We investigated discrepancies in carbapenem minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) among Enterobacteriaceae tested by clinical laboratory ATIs and by reference BMD at the CDC. Methods: During 2016–2018, we conducted laboratory- and population-based surveillance for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) through the CDC Emerging Infections Program (EIP) sites (10 sites by 2018). We defined an incident case as the first isolation of Enterobacter spp (E. cloacae complex or E. aerogenes), Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, K. oxytoca, or K. variicola resistant to doripenem, ertapenem, imipenem, or meropenem from normally sterile sites or urine identified from a resident of the EIP catchment area in a 30-day period. Cases had isolates that were determined to be carbapenem-resistant by clinical laboratory ATI MICs (MicroScan, BD Phoenix, or VITEK 2) or by other methods, using current Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) criteria. A convenience sample of these isolates was tested by reference BMD at the CDC according to CLSI guidelines. Results: Overall, 1,787 isolates from 112 clinical laboratories were tested by BMD at the CDC. Of these, clinical laboratory ATI MIC results were available for 1,638 (91.7%); 855 (52.2%) from 71 clinical laboratories did not confirm as CRE at the CDC. Nonconfirming isolates were tested on either a MicroScan (235 of 462; 50.9%), BD Phoenix (249 of 411; 60.6%), or VITEK 2 (371 of 765; 48.5%). Lack of confirmation was most common among E. coli (62.2% of E. coli isolates tested) and Enterobacter spp (61.4% of Enterobacter isolates tested) (Fig. 1A), and among isolates testing resistant to ertapenem by the clinical laboratory ATI (52.1%, Fig. 1B). Of the 1,388 isolates resistant to ertapenem in the clinical laboratory, 1,006 (72.5%) were resistant only to ertapenem. Of the 855 nonconfirming isolates, 638 (74.6%) were resistant only to ertapenem based on clinical laboratory ATI MICs. Conclusions: Nonconfirming isolates were widespread across laboratories and ATIs. Lack of confirmation was most common among E. coli and Enterobacter spp. Among nonconfirming isolates, most were resistant only to ertapenem. These findings may suggest that ATIs overcall resistance to ertapenem or that isolate transport and storage conditions affect ertapenem resistance. Further investigation into this lack of confirmation is needed, and CRE case identification in public health surveillance may need to account for this phenomenon.
Funding: None
Disclosures: None
Characteristics of Cases With Polymicrobial Bloodstream Infections Involving Candida in Multisite Surveillance, 2017
- Alexia Zhang, Joelle Nadle, Devra Barter, Helen Johnston, Brenda Tesini, Rebekah Blakney, Lewis Perry, Andrew Revis, Monica Farley, Kaytlynn Marceaux, Brittany Pattee, Sarah Shrum, Erin C. Phipps, William Schaffner, Caroline Graber, Brendan R Jackson, Meghan Lyman
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- Journal:
- Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology / Volume 41 / Issue S1 / October 2020
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 November 2020, p. s163
- Print publication:
- October 2020
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Background: Candidemia is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Although risk factors for candidemia and other bloodstream infections (BSIs) overlap, little is known about patient characteristics and the outcomes of polymicrobial infections. We used data from the CDC Emerging Infections Program (EIP) candidemia surveillance to describe polymicrobial candidemia infections and to assess clinical differences compared with Candida-only BSIs. Methods: During January 2017–December 2017 active, population-based candidemia surveillance was conducted in 45 counties in 9 states covering ~6% of the US population through the CDC EIP. A case was defined as a blood culture with Candida spp in a surveillance-area resident; a blood culture >30 days from the initial culture was considered a second case. Demographic and clinical characteristics were abstracted from medical records by trained EIP staff. We examined characteristics of polymicrobial cases, in which Candida and ≥1 non-Candida organism were isolated from a blood specimen on the same day, and compared these to Candida-only cases using logistic regression or t tests using SAS v 9.4 software. Results: Of the 1,221 candidemia cases identified during 2017, 215 (10.2%) were polymicrobial. Among polymicrobial cases, 50 (23%) involved ≥3 organisms. The most common non-Candida organisms were Staphylococcus epidermidis (n = 30, 14%), Enterococcus faecalis (n = 26, 12%), Enterococcus faecium (n = 17, 8%), and Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (n = 15 each, 7%). Patients with polymicrobial cases were significantly younger than those with Candida-only cases (54.3 vs 60.7 years; P < .0004). Healthcare exposures commonly associated with candidemia like total parenteral nutrition (relative risk [RR], 0.82; 95% CI, 0.60–1.13) and surgery (RR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.77–1.29) were similar between the 2 groups. Polymicrobial cases had shorter median time from admission to positive culture (1 vs 4 days, P < .001), were more commonly associated with injection drug use (RR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.46–2.61), and were more likely to be community onset-healthcare associated (RR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.50–2.44). Polymicrobial cases were associated with shorter hospitalization (14 vs 17 days; P = .031), less ICU care (RR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.51–0.83), and lower mortality (RR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.50–0.92). Conclusions: One in 10 candidemia cases were polymicrobial, with nearly one-quarter of those involving ≥3 organisms. Lower mortality among polymicrobial cases is surprising but may reflect the younger age and lower severity of infection of this population. Greater injection drug use, central venous catheter use, and long-term care exposures among polymicrobial cases suggest that injection or catheter practices play a role in these infections and may guide prevention opportunities.
Funding: None
Disclosures: None