Evaluation of Candida Strains Isolated from Clinical Specimens

• Main Authors: Tuba MÜDERRİS, Süreyya Gül YURTSEVER, Rahim ÖZDEMİR, Ayşegül AKSOY GÖKMEN, Nükhet KURULTAY, Nurten BARAN, Selçuk KAYA
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bilimsel Tip Yayinevi 2019-09-01
• Series: Flora Infeksiyon Hastalıkları ve Klinik Mikrobiyoloji Dergisi
• Subjects: Candida; Non-albicans Candida; Candidemia; Intensive care unit; Empirical treatment
• Online Access: http://www.floradergisi.org/getFileContent.aspx?op=REDPDF&file_name=2019-24-03-175-182.pdf
• ISSN: 1300-932X; 1300-932X

Introduction: The increased use of antibiotics and antifungals for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes in hospitals cause an increase in fungal infections. In recent years, the increase and resistance development in infections caused by non-albicans Candida (NAC) have increased the importance of identification of fungi at the species level. The aim of this study was to identify Candida species isolated from various clinical specimens. Materials and Methods: Candida species isolated from sterile clinical samples in our laboratories between 2014-2017 were evaluated retrospectively. Blood samples were incubated in BACTEC FX (BD, USA) automated system for five days and other samples were incubated at 37°C for 18-24 hours after cultured in 5% sheep blood, chocolate, Eozin Methylene Blue and Saboraud dekstroz agars. The species differentiation of the strains that was identified as yeast with Gram staining was done by both conventional methods and automated system (PhoenixTM 100-yeast ID, BD, USA). Results: In this study, a total of 996 Candida growth was detected; including 43.2% Candida albicans and 56.8% NAC. The most frequently isolated NAC species were; C. parapsilosis (27.6%), C. tropicalis (17.9%), C. glabrata (4.3%) and C. kefyr (2.5%). Candida species were isolated mostly from urine (50.7%), blood (44.3%), catheter (2.6%) and peritoneal fluid (0.8%). The most frequently isolated species in blood were C. parapsilosis (52.8%), C. albicans (29.5%), C. tropicalis (11.1%) and C. glabrata (3.4%). In samples from intensive care units (ICU), the most common species were C. albicans (40.5%) and C. parapsilosis (35.9%). It was found that the rate of C. albicans decreased in the last two years while the rates of C. parapsilosis increased significantly in 2017 among the samples that came from the ICU. In addition, when all the clinics were evaluated, C. parapsilosis rate increased significantly in 2017 when compared to other years. Conclusion: Non-albicans Candida types are the most commonly isolated Candida species in our hospital. In our study, the most common isolated NAC was C. parapsilosis in the blood samples while its rate was significantly high in the samples from the ICU. We think that due to intrinsic resistance, hospitals should determine their epidemiologic data periodically for prevention, development of treatment strategies, planning of clinical treament policies, monitoring of the infection course and evaluation of the infection control measures.