In a new report, the CDC analyzed 192 hospitalizations associated with Candida auris and found an estimated crude mortality rate of 34 percent.
The death rate estimates follow reports from earlier this year that found clinical cases of the drug-resistant fungus grew 95 percent from 2020 to 2021.
For the study, published June 8, CDC researchers reviewed 192 C. auris-related hospitalizations from 2017 to 2022, including 38 bloodstream infections. Hospitalizations primarily occurred among older adults, with a median age of 68. There was a high prevalence of underlying conditions and complications for patients with bloodstream and nonbloodstream C. auris, including sepsis (64 percent), diabetes (55 percent), chronic kidney disease (44 percent) and pneumonia (43 percent). The overall estimated crude mortality rate including in-hospital deaths and discharges was 34 percent.
"Our results support smaller previous investigations showing that infection and colonization with C. auris occurs most commonly in patients with complex medical conditions," the report said.
Researchers said learning more about clinical features of patients with C. auris is critical, given the current lack of national surveillance data on clinical cases.