The nation's first confirmed cluster of Candida auris infections among children was detected at Las Vegas-based Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in May, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Oct. 22.
In total, the hospital has confirmed four cases of the deadly, drug-resistant fungus, according to CDC and state data. One of the children died, Dawn Cribb, a public information officer for the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, told the Review-Journal.
Nationwide, less than 10 C. auris cases have been reported in children and "no clusters with multiple pediatric cases at a single facility have previously been identified," the CDC wrote in a May situation report that the Review-Journal obtained through a public records request.
The pediatric cases came as various medical facilities in Southern Nevada grappled with C. auris outbreaks last spring. Between August 2021 and this September, more than 530 cases have been reported across 26 hospitals and nursing homes in the region. Prior to 2021, no cases had been detected in the state.
Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center has since ramped up disinfection practices for shared medical equipment and started testing at-risk patients for C. auris upon entry to the facility, according to Steven Merta, MD, the hospital's chief medical officer.
Read the full report here.