Candida auris Screening in Organ Transplantation

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Transplant Medicine
• Clinical Microbiology

Background:

• Candida auris is a multidrug-resistant yeast with high-risk implications for transplant recipients due to immunosuppression and invasive procedures.
• Despite known colonization and persistence, standardized screening for transplant donors and recipients is not well-defined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and synthesize current approaches for Candida auris screening in transplant populations.
• To identify gaps in knowledge and guide future research for peri-transplant risk mitigation.

Main Methods:

• Review of published outbreak reports, surveillance studies, laboratory guidance, and public health recommendations.
• Synthesis of data on risk-based screening criteria, diagnostic modalities, and applicability of ICU data to transplant settings.

Main Results:

• Screening strategies are typically admission-based or outbreak-driven. Molecular assays offer rapid detection compared to slower culture-based methods.
• Limited transplant-specific evidence suggests frequent colonization and high mortality in invasive cases. No validated decolonization protocols exist.

Conclusions:

• There is a critical need for prospective, transplant-focused studies to establish optimal perioperative screening protocols.
• Further research should quantify colonization-to-infection progression risk and evaluate the clinical impact of screening interventions.