How Two California Hospitals Prevented the Spread of a Deadly Fungal Infection During the Pandemic

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How two California hospitals prevented the spread of a deadly fungal infection during the pandemic:

Arlington, Va., June 29, 2021 - In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, infection preventionists at two Southern California hospitals took extreme measures to stop the spread of a deadly fungus that has emerged in the U.S. and around the world. The two will detail their proactive responses in oral presentations today at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology's (APIC's), 48th Annual Conference.

In separate responses, Scripps Memorial in La Jolla and UCLA Health in Los Angeles isolated suspected or confirmed patients, worked closely with public health departments and information technology and lab teams at their facilities, and implemented aggressive measures to prevent the pathogen, Candida auris, from spreading.

"The fact that these two teams recognized this threat and were able to mobilize so quickly and effectively while also on high alert for COVID is remarkable," said APIC 2021 President Ann Marie Pettis, BSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC. "Their case studies demonstrate how important it is that hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities have enough infection preventionists and resources to train staff and monitor safety protocols so they can prevent harm on multiple fronts."

C. auris is a type of fungus that causes severe, often fatal infections and is resistant to most antifungal drugs. It can be carried on a patient's skin and can survive on surfaces for more than a month, allowing it to spread easily among patients. Most hospital disinfectants can't kill C. auris, making it difficult to eradicate from the healthcare environment. It is also easy to misidentify in lab tests.

In March 2020, during the initial influx of COVID-19 patients, infection preventionist Elizabeth A. Jefferson, BS, PhD, CIC, of Scripps Memorial, was notified that her facility had received the first known case of C. auris in San Diego County.

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