Pathogenesis of Candida Auris: A Threat Emerging during Corona Pandemic

The genus Candida consists of several species, including the Auris species, a pathogen that quickly colonizes and spreads on hospital surfaces and causes invasive fungal infections even after regular disinfection. It is very potent as it is resistant to several antifungals like the Echinocandins and azoles, commonly used to treat invasive fungal infections. Due to this, there is a global threat to public health.

Auris could also spread as a Nosocomial infection through contaminated arm-pit thermometers that will increase the spread and dissemination of C. Auris, to seek protection against which, these multi use devices used on several patients should be cleaned carefully.

In patients hospitalized with COVID-19, systemic fungal co-infections have been very common, which may increase the severity of the disease and be detrimental to the treatment process, and may also prove fatal.

COVID-19 infection suppresses the patients' immunity. The attenuated CD80 upregulation of monocytes can explain and abolish the release of IL6, TNF, IL1a, and IL1b against Candida species making the patient more susceptible to secondary co-infections.

The similarity between Covid and Candidiasis is that both emerge suddenly and spread astonishingly quickly, which cannot be easily comprehended by the traditional epidemiological analysis.

The dry biofilms formed in C. Auris protect the microbe from complete removal due to robust cleaning. It was also found that C. Auris particles were obtained from patients with chronic respiratory disease using genome sequencing and multilocus microsatellite genotyping.

In the timeline of April to July 2020, two-thirds of the COVID cases affected by candidemia admitted in the Intensive Care Unit in New Delhi were due to C. Auris, and the mortality rate was around 60%.