Candida auris (C. auris) has become an important concern for hospitals and laboratories because it combines several characteristics that make infection control difficult.

The emerging yeast can:

• cause serious invasive infections,
• can be resistant to multiple antifungal medicines
• and can spread between patients within healthcare facilities.
• Perhaps more importantly from an infection-control perspective, patients can carry C. auris without showing symptoms and still contribute to transmission.

For hospitals, laboratories and other healthcare facilities, rapidly identifying colonised patients can therefore be an important part of preventing transmission and controlling outbreaks.

This is particularly relevant across Africa, where access to fungal diagnostics remains uneven. In 2026, Africa CDC highlighted fungal diseases as a growing public-health priority, noting serious gaps in the availability and accessibility of essential fungal diagnostics across African Union Member States.

Candida auris was specifically identified as an emerging threat spreading in several regions.

The Bosch Vivalytic C. auris test provides qualitative real-time PCR detection of Candida auris from patient swabs, with results available in approximately 60 minutes.

For healthcare organisations reviewing their infection-control and molecular diagnostic capabilities, this raises an important question:

Could faster screening help identify colonisation earlier and support a quicker infection-control response?

What Is Candida Auris?

Candida auris is a yeast capable of both colonising patients and causing invasive infections.

A colonised patient carries the organism without necessarily becoming ill. An infected patient, by contrast, develops clinical disease.

That distinction is particularly important for C. auris.

According to the CDC’s clinical overview of Candida auris, patients can carry the organism without symptoms and potentially spread it to other patients. The fungus can also cause severe and potentially life-threatening infections, particularly among seriously ill or immunocompromised patients.

Its ability to persist and spread within healthcare environments makes C. auris more than simply an individual patient diagnostic problem.

It is also an infection prevention and outbreak-control challenge.

Candida Auris and the African Healthcare Context

“You can’t fight what you can’t see. We need better diagnostics to stop C. auris from spreading.” Dr Loice Ombajo.

Many clinicians and medical experts are inclined to agree on the above.

Fungal diagnostic capacity is an increasingly important issue across Africa.

In March 2026, Africa CDC reported that a previous survey conducted with the Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections had identified serious gaps in access to essential fungal diagnostics across 48 African Union Member States. Africa CDC also highlighted Candida auris among emerging drug-resistant fungal threats requiring greater attention.

There is another difficulty when interpreting African C. auris numbers: reported cases do not necessarily tell us the complete story.

A 2025 peer-reviewed report describing the first documented C. auris infections in Botswana noted that identification often depends upon access to technologies such as MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and molecular identification methods. National Library of Medicine

The researchers suggested that limited diagnostic capacity and surveillance infrastructure could contribute to under-detection in lower-resource settings.

That is an important point for healthcare decision-makers.

• A low number of confirmed cases does not automatically mean that a pathogen is absent.

Sometimes it just means that testing and surveillance capacity are limited.

For African hospitals, reference laboratories and health authorities considering future diagnostic investment, strengthening the ability to detect emerging fungal pathogens could therefore form part of a wider infection-control and antimicrobial-resistance strategy.

Why Can Candida Auris Be Difficult to Identify?

C. auris presents laboratory challenges as well as clinical ones.

The CDC notes that there are no simple phenotypic characteristics that reliably distinguish it from other Candida species. Appropriate laboratory methods are therefore important for accurate identification.

For colonisation screening specifically, molecular testing has an important role.

The CDC’s laboratory guidance for detecting Candida auris colonisation identifies real-time PCR as the preferred method for detecting colonisation where laboratories have the necessary resources, noting its ability to provide rapid results for public-health action.

Culture-based approaches are also available and remain relevant within laboratory workflows.

The practical question for a healthcare organisation is therefore not simply whether C. auris can be detected.

It is also how quickly the laboratory can provide actionable screening information when transmission is suspected.

How Does Candida Auris Screening Work?

Screening looks for colonisation rather than waiting for an individual to develop symptoms of an invasive infection.

The CDC recommends a composite swab of the bilateral axilla – the armpits – and groin for C. auris colonisation screening.

Screening strategies can differ depending on the circumstances.

For example, healthcare facilities may consider screening:

• patients with epidemiological links to a known case,
• patients who have received care in facilities experiencing transmission, or
• patients with particular risk factors.

Individual hospitals should therefore develop screening protocols according to their local epidemiology, patient population, infection-control policies and applicable national guidance.

How Does the Vivalytic Candida Auris PCR Test Work?

The Vivalytic C. auris test uses qualitative real-time PCR to detect Candida auris, targeting the ITS2 gene.

According to the Bosch Vivalytic portfolio, the test accepts nasal swabs as well as bilateral axilla, groin and nasal combination swabs. Results are available in approximately 60 minutes.

The principal specifications are:

Specification	Vivalytic C. auris
Detectable Pathogen	Candida auris (ITS2 gene)
Detection Method	Qualitative real-time PCR
Sample Material	Nasal swabs; bilateral axilla, groin and nasal combination swabs
Time-to-Result	Approx. 60 minutes
Field of Application	Screening of colonised patients
Intended Setting	Professional and laboratory use
Sample Volume	300 μL per test
Transport Medium (1 ml)	Liquid Amies / eSwab® Collection and Transport System (Copan)

Bosch describes the assay specifically in the context of screening colonised patients and supporting outbreak containment in hospital environments.

View the official Bosch Vivalytic C. auris test information

What Could a Result in Approximately 60 Minutes Mean for Infection Control?

Speed should not be considered in isolation.

A rapid molecular result is useful only when it forms part of an appropriate screening and infection-control programme.

However, there are circumstances where reducing the time between sample collection and identification could be operationally valuable.

Consider a hospital investigating suspected C. auris transmission.

The infection-control team may need to determine whether additional patients are colonised, decide which precautions are appropriate and investigate whether transmission has occurred within a particular ward or unit.

• Screening results can inform infection-control measures, including the precautions and disinfectants used around affected patients.

• Being able to obtain molecular screening results rapidly could therefore help shorten an important part of that information cycle.

It does not, however, mean that PCR alone constitutes an entire C. auris infection-control programme.

Laboratory testing needs to sit alongside appropriate surveillance, clinical assessment, environmental cleaning, hand hygiene, patient-management procedures and local infection-control protocols.

Could Vivalytic Simplify the Molecular Testing Workflow?

Traditional molecular workflows can involve several individual processes and pieces of laboratory equipment.

Bosch describes Vivalytic as a fully automated molecular diagnostic platform. Within the analyser, processes include sample preparation, cell lysis, nucleic-acid extraction, DNA amplification and bio-analytical detection.

The manufacturer’s brochure also states that the C. auris test requires no further laboratory equipment as part of its testing workflow and involves only a few steps from sample to result.

For some healthcare facilities, therefore, the relevant question may not simply be:

“How fast is the test?”

It may instead be:

“What infrastructure, staff time and workflow would our laboratory require to introduce molecular screening?”

Those are questions worth examining during an equipment evaluation or demonstration.

Questions Laboratory Managers Should Consider

Before introducing any new molecular diagnostic platform, healthcare organisations should assess how it would fit within their existing workflow.

For C. auris, useful questions include:

• Do we currently have the ability to identify or screen for Candida auris?
• Are samples processed internally or referred to another laboratory?
• What is our current turnaround time?
• Which patients would our infection-control policy require us to screen?
• What would happen operationally following a positive screening result?
• Do we already have molecular diagnostic infrastructure?
• What level of training would laboratory personnel require?
• How readily can cartridges and other consumables be supplied?
• What technical and after-sales support is available?
• Could the same molecular platform support other testing requirements within our facility?

The last question is particularly relevant when evaluating Vivalytic.

One Platform Can Support More Than Candida Auris Testing

Vivalytic is NOT a dedicated C. auris-only analyser.

The platform supports a wider molecular diagnostic test portfolio covering several important infectious-disease areas.

The Bosch portfolio includes tests associated with respiratory infections, gastrointestinal infections, sexually transmitted infections, nosocomial infections and bacterial meningitis.

This includes assays for pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A/B, RSV, Bordetella, Clostridioides difficile, Norovirus, MRSA/SA and several bacterial causes of meningitis.

For a laboratory considering investment in molecular diagnostics, this potentially changes the procurement conversation.

Rather than evaluating the analyser solely according to the number of C. auris samples expected each month, laboratory managers can consider the broader testing requirements that could potentially be supported by the same platform.

That may be particularly relevant to hospitals and laboratories seeking to expand molecular diagnostic capacity without introducing separate analysers for every individual testing requirement.

Candida Auris Screening and Infection Control: The Bigger Picture

C. auris demonstrates why diagnostic capacity and infection prevention are closely connected.

An organism capable of asymptomatic colonisation and healthcare-associated transmission can be difficult to contain if healthcare facilities cannot identify who is carrying it.

At the same time, molecular technology alone cannot solve the problem.

Effective management requires laboratory capability to operate alongside surveillance, trained healthcare personnel, appropriate infection-control procedures and access to effective treatment.

This is particularly significant for African healthcare systems as fungal diseases receive greater attention.

Is Your Laboratory Considering Candida Auris PCR Testing?

If your hospital, laboratory or healthcare organisation is reviewing its Candida auris screening or molecular diagnostic capabilities, MediDiagAfrica can provide further information about the Bosch Vivalytic platform and the Vivalytic C. auris assay.

We can help you explore the test specifications, Vivalytic workflow and wider test portfolio and discuss whether the platform may be appropriate for your facility’s diagnostic requirements.

Request information about the Vivalytic C. auris test

Request a Vivalytic demonstration

Discuss your laboratory’s molecular diagnostic requirements

Enquire about Vivalytic availability in your country

Product availability may vary by market. Bosch advises healthcare organisations to confirm availability of specific Vivalytic products in their region.

This article is intended for healthcare and laboratory professionals and provides general diagnostic and product information. It should not replace clinical guidelines, professional medical judgement, local infection-control policies or applicable regulatory requirements.