The Emergence of is Not Associated with Changes in Antifungal Prescription at Hospitals.

Purpose: This study describes the emergence of in Hong Kong, focusing on the incidence and trends of different species over time. Additionally, the study analyzes the relationship between and antifungal prescription, as well as the impact of outbreaks caused by .

Patients And Methods: Data were collected from 43 public hospitals across seven healthcare networks (A to G) in Hong Kong, including species culture and antifungal prescription information. Among 150,267 patients with 206,405 hospitalization episodes, 371,653 specimens tested positive for species. Trends in species and antifungal prescription were analyzed before (period 1: 2015 1Q to 2019 1Q) and after (period 2: 2019 2Q to 2023 2Q) the emergence of in Hong Kong.

Results: was the most prevalent species, accounting for 57.1% (212,163/371,653) of isolations, followed by (13.1%, 48,666), (9.2%, 34,261), and (5.3%, 19,688). represented 2.0% of all species isolations. Comparing period 2 to period 1, the trend of remained stable, while demonstrated a slower increasing trend in period 2 than in period 1. Other species, including , exhibited a 1.1% faster increase in trend during period 2 compared to period 1. Network A, with the highest antifungal prescription, did not experience any outbreaks, while networks F and G had 40 hospital outbreaks due to in period 2. Throughout the study period, healthcare networks B to G had significantly lower antifungal prescription compared to network A, ranging from 54% to 78% less than that of network A.

Conclusion: There is no evidence showing correlation between the emergence of and antifungal prescription in Hong Kong. Proactive infection control measures should be implemented to prevent nosocomial transmission and outbreak of .