Public Health Response Data Show Success of Standard Infection Control Measures for Dialysis

MONDAY, July 14, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Adherence to standard dialysis infection prevention and control (IPC) measures enabled safe provision of dialysis to patients with Candida auris colonization or infection, without transmission to other patients, according to research published in the July 10 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Alexandra Kurutz, M.P.H., from the Tennessee Department of Health in Nashville, and colleagues reviewed public health response effects carried out in five separate facilities in four states during 2020 to 2023. Six patients infected or colonized with C. auris received dialysis treatment for up to four months in these facilities. C. auris status was unknown to the treating facilities for five of the patients.

The researchers found that the facilities implemented recommended standard — but not C. auris-specific — IPC measures for the dialysis setting before they became aware of patients” C. auris status. One additional patient whose previously detected C. auris colonization was not known to the dialysis facility was identified in colonization testing of 174 potentially exposed patient contacts, with no additional positive results. For most participating states, a significant impediment to containment response efforts was posed by lapses in communication among health care facilities and public health jurisdictions.

“This study suggests that with adherence to appropriate precautions, dialysis can be safely provided to patients regardless of their C. auris status,” the authors write. “Further studies are needed to better understand the prevalence and risk factors associated with C. auris transmission in the dialysis setting.”

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