| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Species identification and antifungal susceptibility tests were carried out on 212 <it>Candida </it>isolates obtained from bloodstream infections, urinary tract infections and dialysis-associated peritonitis, from cases attended at a Brazilian public tertiary hospital from January 1998 to January 2005.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p><it>Candida albicans </it>represented 33% of the isolates, <it>Candida parapsilosis </it>31.1%, <it>Candida tropicalis </it>17.9%,<it>Candida glabrata </it>11.8%, and others species 6.2%. In blood culture, <it>C. parapsilosis </it>was the most frequently encountered species (48%). The resistance levels to the antifungal azoles were relatively low for the several species, except for <it>C. tropicalis </it>and <it>C. glabrata</it>. Amphotericin B resistance was observed in 1 isolate of <it>C. parapsilosis</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The species distribution and antifungal susceptibility herein observed presented several epidemiological features common to other tertiary hospitals in Latin American countries. It also exhibited some peculiarity, such as a very high frequency of <it>C. parapsilosis </it>both in bloodstream infections and dialysis-associated peritonitis. <it>C. albicans </it>also occurred in an important number of case infections, in all evaluated clinical sources. <it>C. glabrata </it>presented a high proportion of resistant isolates. The data emphasize the necessity to carry out the correct species identification accompanied by the susceptibility tests in all tertiary hospitals.</p>
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