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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.

Vertical DNA sequencing in colors

Image credit: Shutterstock

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.

Find out more (University of Oxford website)