Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1149353
14 INFECTION CONTROL & PATIENT SAFETY Deadly fungal infection can spread through skin shedding, study finds By Anuja Vaidya P atients heavily colonized with Candida auris can contaminate their surroundings by shedding the deadly fungus from their skin, research found. C. auris can cause large outbreaks in healthcare facilities. As of April 30, there have been 684 cases of C. auris in the U.S., in addition to numerous cases reported globally. Learning how the fungus spreads can help clinicians stem the world- wide outbreaks. Researchers found that patients can have high concentrations of C. auris on their skin and developed methods of counting the fungus in samples collected from patients' skin and their rooms. The beds of patients with higher C. auris concentrations on their skin also had higher levels of C. auris. The researchers cultured live C. auris from the beds of all patients who test- ed positive for C. auris, and even from the beds that were formally occupied by C. auris patients. "This finding supported our hypothesis that patients are actively shedding C. auris cells into their environment," said Joe Sexton, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the CDC who led the study. The research was presented in June at ASM Microbe, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Francisco. n Ohio hospital confirms hot water system source of Legionnaires' disease outbreak By Anuja Vaidya M ount Carmel Grove City (Ohio) hospital confirmed bacte- ria in its hot water system caused a Legionnaires' disease outbreak resulting in 16 confirmed cases and one death. e hospital conducted extensive testing of its water systems and found that samples taken from May 23 through June 1 showed signif- icant legionella bacteria in the hot water system. e hospital said the bacteria is likely linked to inadequate disinfection before the hospital opened April 28. "ere is nothing more important to us than the safety of our pa- tients and colleagues," the hospital said in a statement. "Every day we are trusted with people's lives, and we take that responsibility serious- ly. We are implementing a long-term solution to ensure legionella is effectively controlled and that this doesn't happen again." e hospital implemented water restrictions May 31, which is when a full investigation of the outbreak began, and then performed a hyper-chlorination process, where high doses of chlorine are used to disinfect water systems. Water restrictions were lied June 7. e hospital has since installed a permanent supplemental disinfection system and implemented a new protocol that calls for daily flushing in patient rooms. Legionella bacteria, which occurs naturally, can grow and spread in complex man-made water systems, which is when it becomes a health concern, according to the CDC. n