• Charlotte A Patterson, Duncan Wyncoll, Amita Patel, Yusupha Ceesay, William Newsholme, Meera Chand, Hannah Mitchell, Mark Tan, and Jonathan D Edgeworth.
• Department of Infectious Diseases, Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
• Crit. Care Med. 2021 Apr 1; 49 (4): 697701697-701.

ObjectivesCandida auris has been implicated in ICU outbreaks worldwide and is notable for being difficult to identify and treat, its resilience in the environment, and significant patient mortality associated with invasive disease. Here, we describe a small C. auris outbreak and how it was terminated.DesignSingle-center, observational.SettingTwo general adult ICUs at an urban U.K. teaching hospital.PatientsAll patients positive for C. auris during the 5-month outbreak were included (n = 7).InterventionsStepwise implementation of enhanced infection prevention and control precautions was introduced including twice-weekly screening, contact tracing, isolation precautions, and environmental decontamination. A detailed environmental screen was performed to identify potential reservoirs. This included the patient bed space and clinical equipment and a frequently handled cloth lanyard attached to a key used to access controlled drugs. Personal possessions such as mobile phones, lanyards, and identification badges were also screened.Measurements And Main ResultsThe index case and six linked acquisitions were identified. Four of six (67%) patients were identified after discharge of all known previous C. auris cases from ICU, highlighting potential for an environmental reservoir. Environmental screening identified C. auris from a patient bed space following deep cleaning, prompting review and enhancement of cleaning procedures. The controlled drug cloth lanyard was positive for C. auris, which prompted removal and culture of all staff lanyards. C. auris was identified on 1/100 staff lanyards (1%). No mobile phones or identification badges were positive for C. auris. The outbreak terminated following withdrawal of lanyards from ICU.ConclusionsThis outbreak further implicates environmental reservoirs as sustaining C. auris ICU outbreaks. Identification of C. auris on cloth lanyards highlights the need to identify commonly handled moveable objects during an outbreak. We suggest that ICUs with a C. auris outbreak should investigate similar infrequently cleaned items as potential reservoirs and review their policies on lanyard use.Copyright © 2021 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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