The rise of Candida auris: from unique traits to co-infection potential

Nadine B Egger; Katharina Kainz; Adina Schulze; Maria A Bauer; Frank Madeo; Didac Carmona-Gutierrez

doi:10.15698/mic2022.08.782

The rise of Candida auris: from unique traits to co-infection potential

Microb Cell. 2022 Aug 1;9(8):141-144. doi: 10.15698/mic2022.08.782.

Authors

Nadine B Egger¹, Katharina Kainz¹, Adina Schulze¹, Maria A Bauer¹, Frank Madeo^{1

2

3}, Didac Carmona-Gutierrez¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, NAWI Graz, Graz, Austria.
² Field of Excellence BioHealth, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
³ BioTechMed Graz, Graz 8010, Austria.

Abstract

Candida auris is a multidrug resistant (MDR) fungal pathogen with a crude mortality rate of 30-60%. First identified in 2009, C. auris has been rapidly emerging to become a global risk in clinical settings and was declared an urgent health threat by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A concerted global action is thus needed to successfully tackle the challenges created by this emerging fungal pathogen. In this brief article, we underline the importance of unique virulence traits,including its easy transformation, its persistence outside the host and its resilience against multiple cellular stresses, as well as of environmental factors that have mainly contributed to the rise of this superbug.

Keywords: COVID-19; Candida auris; SARS-CoV2; biofilm; candidemia; co-infection; fungal infections; global warming; nosocomial infection; pandemic; resistance; yeast.

Publication types

Editorial

Grants and funding

F.M. is grateful to the Austrian Science Fund FWF (SFB LIPOTOX F3007 & F3012, W1226, P29203, P29262, P27893, and P31727) and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, as well as the University of Graz for grants “Unkonventionelle Forschung-InterFast and Fast4Health” as well as “flysleep” (BMWFW - 80.109/0001-WF/V/3b/2015). We acknowledge the support of the field of excellence BioHealth, of NAWI Graz and the BioTechMed-Graz flagship project “EPIAge.”