DNA sequencing and patient data used to halt infection outbreak

Clinical and research teams at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, using infection prevention and control best practice, whole genome sequencing and electronic patient data, have halted an outbreak of a potentially deadly fungal pathogen after detecting that multi-use patient equipment was responsible. The breakthrough at the John Radcliffe Hospital is significant as this is the first time an outbreak of Candida auris (C. auris) has been completely ended with a clear understanding of the cause. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine , was conducted by the Infection, Prevention and Control and Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit (ICU) teams from OUH, the University of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Medicine, the Big Data Institute and the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit and Public Health England, and supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. The lead investigator, Dr David Eyre, Research Fellow in Infectious Diseases at the Big Data Institute, said: 'It is very pleasing that our research has led to the C. auris outbreak being stopped. There are a number of hospitals in the UK and around the world that have been unable to halt their outbreaks. Working out how it is transmitted should help to contain its spread worldwide.