Patient isolation measures for infants with candida colonization or infection for preventing or reducing transmission of candida in neonatal units

Fungal infection with Candida has become increasingly common in the neonatal intensive care unit. Candida infection causes many deaths and significantly increases health care costs. Candida spreads among babies by contact, generally by health care staff and sometimes by family members. In addition to routine steps to control infection, keeping babies who have candida in separate rooms (single room isolation) or cared for together (cohorting) may decrease the spread of candida. In this review, the authors sought studies that evaluated these measures, but could not find any. Therefore, the authors recommend that appropriate studies be performed in the future to answer this important question that may save lives and costs.