Authors
Abdullah A Awadh, Albaraa A Alsharif, Saad H Alahmari, Anmar A Bannani, Mazeed F Albogami, Assaf A Alzahrani, Abdulamajeed Y Ghazali
Published in
Open forum infectious diseases. Volume 13. Issue 7. Pages ofag403. Epub Jul 03, 2026.
Abstract
Candida auris is an emerging fungal pathogen of global concern. Data on its epidemiology in the Middle East remain limited. We characterized the clinical profile, predictors, and outcomes of C. auris colonization among hospitalized patients in Saudi Arabia.
A retrospective cohort study of 322 patients screened for C. auris between 2019 and 2025 at a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh. Patients were classified as C. auris positive (n = 107) or negative (n = 215). Baseline characteristics were compared using Mann-Whitney U and Fisher's exact tests. Logistic regression identified predictors of positivity.
The C. auris positivity rate was 33.2%, declining from 58.1% in 2021 to 24.8% in 2024 as surveillance expanded. Positive patients were older (median 70 vs 59 years, P < .001) and had longer hospital stays (median 124 vs 21 days, P < .001). Cardiovascular, endocrine, renal, and hematological comorbidities were significantly more prevalent. Age (per 10 years: odds ratio [OR] 1.26, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12-1.42) and length of stay (per 30 days: OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.12-1.28) were the strongest continuous predictors. All-cause in-hospital mortality was higher in positive patients (51.4% vs 25.1%; OR 3.15, 95% CI 1.90-5.23, P < .001).
Candida auris-positive patients exhibited advanced age, multimorbidity, prolonged hospitalization, and elevated all-cause mortality. These findings support targeted screening of high-risk populations in Gulf-region healthcare facilities.
PMID:
42434388
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 11 Jul 2026.
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