āāāCandida āāauris Coloānization Screenāing at the Microbial Diseases Laboratory. Effective March 6th, 2023
As part of statewide and national surveillance efforts focused on antimicrobial resisitant pathogens, the California Department of Public Healthās Microbial Diseases Laboratory Branch (CDPH MDL) now offers
Candida auris colonization screening from patient skin swabs, in addition to our existing fungal culture identification and confirmation testing services.
āCandida auris colonization testing is performed by a molecular method in order to rapidly and accurately detect the presence of
C. auris directly from patient specimens. The CDPH MDL performs a Real-Time PCR assay to detect
C. auris from skin swabs collected using the ESwabā¢ collection system. Only PCR results will be reported for most specimes; however, culture-based testing will be performed on specimens with "indeterminateā PCR results and confirmatory results will be reported. The turn-around time is 2-3 business days for PCR results, and 7-14 business days for culture results (if applicable).ā
Specimens for which āpositiveā PCR results were obtained will be cultured for potential referral to ARLN Regional Laboratory for AFST and/or WGS. This additional testing is for surveillance purposes only and will not be reported back to the original submitter.āā
āPrior approval by the CDPHās Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Program is required for specimen submission (see contact info below).
āMore detailed test information is available on MDL Services and Test Catalog webpage at
MDL Services and Testāā Catalog. Additional information on
C. auris is available from the CDPH Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Program atā Healtāhcare-Associated Infections (HAI).ā
āāāā
Keāy Conāāāāātacātāāāā Infoāārmāāation: ā
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āāāCandida auris lāāaboratory colonization scārāeeningāāā
āāCDPH MDL Mycobacterial, Mycotic and Parasitic Diseases Section, Mycology Unit
Email:
CDPHMDLMMP@cdph.ca.govāāāā
Phone: (510) 412-3926
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āāāāāāCDPH Healthcare-āāAssociated Infections (HAI) Prograām
āEmail:
HAIProgram@cdph.ca.gov
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āāCalifornia Antimicroābial Resistance Laboratory (CARL) Pāāārogrāamāāā
Email: CARLProgram@cdph.ca.govāā
āāāāāāā