A Scalable Method to Concentrate and Culture Candida auris from Wastewater using Nanotrap Microbiome Particles

Caryn Tyler
6 days ago
1 min read

The adoption of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 has rapidly expanded worldwide, driven by strong evidence linking WBE and clinical case trends. The success of WBE for monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in specific regions has led to a renewed interest in monitoring additional microorganisms, including yeast, such as Candida auris (C. auris). Transmission of Candida species is oftentimes linked to physical contact with an infected host or through direct contact with a contaminated surface, particularly in hospitals and healthcare facilities.(1) C. auris has also been observed to contain genes which confer antifungal resistance,(2) leading to the further need for broad surveillance of infectivity rates due to the limited treatment options available. Detecting these microbes also presents challenges; they contain strong cell structures and are difficult to lyse using common nucleic acid extraction workflows, and their concentration in wastewater is often very low due to infection control measures in healthcare settings. Culture-based methods have proven effective for detecting and characterizing C. auris in wastewater, improving the ability to study its infectivity at the community level.