A high-throughput and rapid method for accurate identification of emerging multidrug-resistant Candida auris
Ahmad, A.; Spencer, J.E.; Lockhart, S.R.; Singleton, S.; Petway, D.J.; Bagarozzi, D.A.; Herzegh, O.T.
Mycoses 62(6): 513-518
2019
ISSN/ISBN: 1439-0507 PMID: 30801778 DOI: 10.1111/myc.12907
Accession: 066528603
Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant yeast associated with invasive infection in healthcare settings. Recently, C auris cases in the United States have been detected in 11 states with the majority of cases in New York, New Jersey and Illinois. Rapid and accurate identification of C auris is critical for patient care and the implementation of public health measures to control the spread of infection. Our aim was to develop and validate a rapid DNA extraction method using the Roche MagNA Pure 96 instrument and a TaqMan real-time PCR assay for reliable, high-throughput identification of C auris. We evaluated 247 patient dermal swab samples previously analysed by culture/MALDI-TOF. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 93.6% and 97.2%, respectively. The assay was highly reproducible with a detection limit of 1 C auris CFU/10 μL. A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of the real-time PCR data showed an area of 0.982 under the curve, with a CT cut-off value of ≤37.0. The turnaround time from DNA extraction to real-time PCR results was approximately 200 samples/day. In conclusion, we successfully validated a rapid and high-throughput method for accurate and reproducible identification of C auris with a significantly reduced turnaround time compared to culture/MALDI-TOF based methods.