Candida auris in the State of Virginia

On this page: Cases by Year | Cases by Month and Region | Region Map | Additional Information

Candida auris (C. auris) is a type of yeast that can cause severe illness and spreads easily among patients in healthcare facilities. It is often resistant to antifungal treatments, which means that the medications that are designed to kill the fungus and stop infections do not work. The CDC considers C. auris an urgent threat in the United States. For general information about C. auris, see the CDC C. auris website. 

Note: The Virginia Department of Health updates these data monthly. All data are preliminary and subject to change based on additional reporting. 

C. auris was added to the VDH reportable disease list and conditions reportable by directors of laboratories on November 14, 2018. The HAI/AR team updates case counts monthly to help inform prevention responses to help contain the spread of C. auris. For more details for data and methods used, please see additional information section. 

Virginia Candida auris Case Count by Year

Directions: Please use the filter on the top to view the data by specimen collection reason

Virginia Candida auris Case Count by Month and Region

Directions: Please use the filters on the right to view the data by specimen collection reason and region; multiple criteria could be selected for each category. 

Virginia Candida auris Case Count Map 

Directions: Please use the filters on the right to view the data by specimen collection reason and region; multiple criteria could be selected for each category. 

Additional Information

1. How are C. auris cases reported to VDH? 
   1. The State Board of Health updated the Virginia Regulations for Disease Reporting and Control (12 VAC 5-90-80) effective November 14, 2018. C. auris was added to the reportable disease list and conditions reportable by directors of laboratories. Required reporters notify the local health department when cases are identified. 
   2. Local epidemiologists determine case status and respond to cases by collecting data, providing infection prevention recommendations, and conducting a contact investigation. Laboratory and case information are entered in the Virginia Electronic Disease Surveillance System (VEDSS). The data is cleaned cross-referencing historical data and information in VEDSS to ensure proper counts.
2. How are C. auris cases defined?
   1. VDH uses the CSTE C. auris Surveillance Case Definition which includes the following laboratory evidence:  
      1. Detection of C. auris in a specimen using either culture or validated culture-independent test (e.g., nucleic acid amplification test [NAAT])
   2. Cases are further stratified by whether the specimen was a clinical case or a screening case 
      1. Clinical case: collected for the purpose of diagnosing or treating disease during normal care. 
      2. Screening case: collected for the detection of colonization and not for the purpose of diagnosing or treating disease. Screening cases are typically discovered during a screening process, such as admission screenings or if the patient was screened because of their contact with a known case.
   3. Only Virginia residents are included in the case counts.
3. How are new cases distinguished from existing cases?
   1. A patient who is colonized or infected with C. auris is considered colonized indefinitely and thus impacts how cases are counted. 
      1. For clinical cases, the patient is only counted as a clinical case once in their lifetime. A person with a clinical case is not counted as a screening case thereafter because all clinical cases are considered to also be colonized with C. auris.
      2. For screening cases, the patient is only counted as a screening case once in their lifetime. A person who is counted as a screening case can later be categorized as a clinical case (e.g., patient with positive screening swab who later develops bloodstream infection would be counted in both categories).
4. How are C. auris cases assigned to a region?
   1. The cases are counted based on the location of the facility where the patient was at when the sample was collected. The facility where it was collected does not indicate that the transmission occurred at that facility.