Prevalence of Candida Species Isolated from Immuno-Compromised Patients

Background: Resistance to fungal infections is increasing worldwide, which is highly relevant in immunosuppressed individuals. Candida fungi infection constitutes one of the most common causes of fungal infections in such patients, and it can lead to complications and death. The current study sought to examine the prevalence and species diversity of Candida in samples received by the Microbiology Laboratory over a two-year period.

Methods: The study involved 674 immunocompromised patients. Candida was isolated from clinical samples using wet mount, gram stain, and SDA culture. To further identify the organisms, several tests were conducted, including the germ tube test, cornmeal agar morphology, sugar assimilation, fermentation tests, and BACT/ALERT 3D.

Results: Candida species were found to be present in 6.5% of the population. Candida tropicalis was found to be the most common isolate 20 (45.45%), followed by Candida albicans 9 (20.45%), Candida glabrata 7 (15.9%), Candida parapsilosis 4 (9.09%), and Candida krusei 4 (9.09%). Diabetes, leukaemia, chronic kidney disease, and AIDS were the most common predisposing factors for candidiasis.

Conclusion: Men had a relatively high candidemia prevalence of 68.18%. Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus (DM) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) have been found to be the most common co-morbidities with candidemia in people aged 51 to 70.