Episode 66 - Diamantis Plachouras - The Silent Spread - Europe’s C. auris Challenge

ECDC: On Air

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

Science

5 • 3 Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of ECDC On Air , we talk to ECDC's Head of Section - Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections - Dr Diamantis Plachouras, who explains the rising threat of the drug-resistant fungus Candidozyma (Candida) auris.

Discovered only in 2009, C. auris has become a serious problem in European hospitals - spreading between patients, persisting on surfaces and equipment, and resisting multiple antifungal treatments.

Diamantis outlines how infections develop, why treatment is so difficult, and what the latest ECDC survey shows: over 4,000 EU/EEA cases since 2013, including 1,346 in 2023 alone, with several countries already facing regional or national endemicity.

He also shares why early detection, infection prevention and control, and timely communication between hospitals are key to stopping outbreaks - and why success is still possible.

🎧 Tune in for a clear look at one of Europe’s most urgent patient safety concerns.

Interested in the topic? Check more on C. auris here.

For more information about ECDC in general, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ecdc.europa.eu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠social media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Transcript

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0:00.0	ECDC On Air, the podcast of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
0:13.7	Keeping up to date with European Epidemiology.
0:19.3	Hello and welcome to ECDC on Air, the podcast by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
0:24.8	I'm your host, Andrea, recording from Stockholm, Sweden.
0:27.8	Today we will be discussing the latest findings regarding candidacyma auret.
0:32.5	This is a fungus that is often drug-resistant and it is spreading in European hospitals.
0:38.4	This is definitely a threat to patient safety across Europe.
0:59.0	To help us understand what the situation is,
1:04.1	what the current gaps are, for example, in infection prevention and control and in surveillance,
1:07.5	I am here today with Dr. Diamantis Plasurus.
1:12.0	He is the head of section for antimicrobial resistance and healthcare associated infections at ECDC. Welcome, Diamantis. Thank you for being here with us. Thank you for inviting me.
1:19.2	Let's start with the basics. What is Candidosimáoris? And why is it such a concern for
1:25.4	European hospitals and other healthcare settings?
1:33.1	Kandosima receives a drug-resistant fungus that was only discovered in 2009,
1:38.7	and for the first time was identified as cause of outbreaks in Europe in 2014.
1:42.0	And since then, it has spread quite widely. It is a concern because it has the ability to cause serious infections in severely ill patients.
1:49.9	Then these infections can be life-threatening, and it's also quite difficult to treat.
1:56.9	Another point, and probably the most worrisome is that candidose amauris causes outbreaks.
2:03.4	That is, it can be transmitted from one patient to the next patient, and also it contaminates
2:11.1	the environment.
2:13.0	And this makes it very difficult to control.
2:16.3	Now that we understand what the fungus is and why it is concerning and why it causes in
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