Impact of Infection Control Interventions on Candida auris at a Tertiary Care Center in Bahrain: A Five-Year...

Introduction  Candida auris (C. auris) is a multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen associated with high morbidity, environmental persistence, and rapid transmission in healthcare settings. This study evaluated the impact of a comprehensive infection-control intervention on hospital-acquired C. auris cases by comparing two post-implementation periods, phase I (2021-2022) and phase II (2023-2025), to assess the intervention's performance over time. Methods  A retrospective analysis was conducted on 323 patients diagnosed with C. auris between 2021 and 2025. Infection-control measures were initiated at the end of 2021 as part of the institutional response to the detection of the initial cases and were consistently maintained until the end of the study. Chi-square tests were applied to compare demographic and clinical characteristics across the two periods. Results The majority of patients with C. auris were male (65.3%), and more than half (51.4%) were over 65 years of age. Demographic and clinical characteristics were similar between the two periods. However, the proportion of patients with documented contact with a C. auris-positive individual significantly decreased over time, from 56.9% in phase I (2021-2022) to 40.8% in phase II (2023-2025) (p = 0.004). Monthly hospital-acquired C. auris cases decreased from 6 cases per month in phase I to 5 cases per month in phase II, representing a 16.7% reduction; however, this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.41). Conclusion  The multidisciplinary infection-control intervention significantly reduced contact-associated transmission and hospital-acquired C. auris cases. The results show that multidisciplinary collaboration, improved screening, and enhanced environmental cleaning and disinfection all help control C. auris in high-risk healthcare settings.