Candidemia isolates, identification and antifungal susceptibility testing: a study from a tertiary care centre

This study is aimed to characterize the epidemiology and antifungal susceptibility profile of Candida isolates from candidemia cases in a tertiary care centre in both ICU and non-ICU patients.

This study was conducted in Department of Microbiology, St. John's Medical College and Hospital, Bangalore for a period of 6 months. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee. Blood culture bottles from the adult and paediatric wards were incubated for a period of 7 days at 37°C. Once the blood cultures showed growth, further processing was done. The Candida isolates were speciated using conventional morphological and biochemical tests.

C.tropicalis was the predominant isolate accounting for 53.3% out of the 30 Candida isolates obtained during this study period. The incidence of candidemia was higher in ICU patients(77%). An emerging drug resistance to Fluconazole was observed among C.albicans.

The frequency of candidemia among hospitalized patients has increased greatly during the recent years.