Antifungal activity of octenidine dihydrochloride and ultraviolet-C light against multidrug-resistant Candida auris.

Outbreaks due to multidrug-resistant Candida auris have emerged as a large threat to modern medicine. Since skin colonization and environmental contamination have been identified as a precursor for outbreaks, we evaluated the antifungal activity of ultraviolet-C light using mercury vapour lamp with a peak emission of 254 ± 2 nm and octenidine dihydrochloride against C. auris clinical isolates. Octenidine dihydrochloride was found effective at significantly lower concentrations (0.00005-0.0004%) than those currently used in the clinical setting (0.05-0.1%). Scanning electron microscopy images show destruction of the organism within 6 h of exposure to 0.0005% octenidine dihydrochloride. Ultraviolet-C light could kill all C. auris with 15 min exposure.