Performance of Two Novel Chromogenic Media for the Identification of Multidrug-Resistant Candida auris Compared with Other Commercially Available Formulations.

Non- species are emerging in the nosocomial environment, with the multidrug-resistant (MDR) species being the most notorious example. Consequently, rapid and accurate species identification has become essential. The objective of this study was to evaluate five commercially available chromogenic media for the presumptive identification of Two novel chromogenic formulations, CHROMagar Plus (CHROMagar) and HiCrome MDR selective agar (HiMedia), and three reference media, CandiSelect (Bio-Rad), CHROMagar (CHROMagar), and Chromatic (Liofilchem), were inoculated with a collection of 9 genetically diverse strains and 35 strains from closely related comparator species. After 48 h of incubation, the media were evaluated for their ability to detect and identify All media had the same limitations in the differentiation of the more common species and Only on CHROMagar Plus did colonies develop a species-specific coloration. Nevertheless, the closely related pathogenic species and developed a similar appearance as on this medium. CHROMagar Plus was shown to be superior in the detection and identification of , with 100% inclusivity for compared to 0% and 33% for the reference media and HiCrome MDR selective agar, respectively. Although and can cause false positives, CHROMagar Plus was shown to be a valuable addition to the plethora of mostly molecular methods for detection and identification.