Candida spp. isolated from inpatients, the environment, and health practitioners in the pediatric unit at the Universitary Hospital of the Jundiaí Medical College, state of São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

<jats:p>INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to isolate and identify Candida spp. from the environment, health practitioners, and patients with the presumptive diagnosis of candidiasis in the Pediatric Unit at the Universitary Hospital of the Jundiaí Medical College, to verify the production of enzymes regarded as virulence factors, and to determine how susceptible the isolated samples from patients with candidiasis are to antifungal agents. METHODS: Between March and November of 2008 a total of 283 samples were taken randomly from the environment and from the hands of health staff, and samples of all the suspected cases of Candida spp. hospital-acquired infection were collected and selected by the Infection Control Committee. The material was processed and the yeast genus Candida was isolated and identified by physiological, microscopic, and macroscopic attributes. RESULTS: The incidence of Candida spp. in the environment and employees was 19.2%. The most frequent species were C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis among the workers, C. guilliermondii and C. tropicalis in the air, C. lusitanae on the contact surfaces, and C. tropicalis and C. guilliermondii in the climate control equipment. The college hospital had 320 admissions, of which 13 (4%) presented Candida spp. infections; three of them died, two being victims of a C. tropicalis infection and the remaining one of C. albicans. All the Candida spp. in the isolates evidenced sensitivity to amphotericin B, nystatin, and fluconazole. CONCLUSIONS: The increase in the rate of hospital-acquired infections caused by Candida spp. indicates the need to take larger measures regarding recurrent control of the environment.</jats:p>

Antifungal Susceptibility Profiles of Candida Species Isolated from Ahvaz Jundishapur Educational Hospitals

“…Miconazole was effective against all tested Candida isolates, including fluconazole resistance strains in Isham and Ghannoum study (42). Furthermore, all C. albicans and non-albicans species in Storti's study were sensitive to fluconazole (5). In contrast, a resistance to miconazole and fluconazole up to 33.3% and 50% in non-albicans Candida was observed in Savastano et al's study (35).…”

“…Candida albicans was predominantly isolated from clinical samples, whereas (35). In another study by Storti et al, only one isolate of C. albicans was isolated from 270 environmental and clinical samples taken from hospital and the rest of them (51 cases) were non-albicans, including C. tropicalis, C. guilliermondii, C. parapsilosis, C. lusitaniae, and C. krusei (5). Similar to the current study, in Sabino et al's report, C. parapsilosis strains were the most abundant isolates from the hospital environment.…”

“…Nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections commonly occur during hospitalization in specialized wards, including urology, surgery, intensive care units (ICUs), neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), and infectious diseases among immunocompromised patients (1)(2)(3)(4). Nosocomial infections have been increased dramatically in the past two to three decades due to several risk factors, including organ transplantation, hospitalization at ICUs and NICUs, malignancy, chemotherapy, and immunosuppression (2,5). Furthermore, yeast infections, including candidiasis, have also been increased from 6 to > 10% during the recent decades (6).…”

Antifungal Activity of Naphthoquinoidal Compounds In Vitro against Fluconazole-Resistant Strains of Different Candida Species: A Special Emphasis on Mechanisms of Action on Candida tropicalis

“…Previous studies have reported a significant increase in the number of infections by non- albicans species ( C. tropicalis , C. glabrata , C. parapsilosis and C. krusei ), corresponding to 36–63% of all cases [2]. As an invasive fungus, Candida tropicalis is a major non- albicans Candida species that causes fungemia in patients [3], and is the second-most commonly isolated Candida species in Brazilian hospitals [4]. The widespread occurrence of C. tropicalis in Brazilian hospitals may be explained by the high level of resistance to certain antifungal drugs among non- albicans species, as demonstrated by the numerous reports of fluconazole-resistant clinical isolates of C. tropicalis in recent years [5].…”

Frequency of Candida Species Isolated from Patients in Children’s Medical Center, Tehran, Iran

“…The first step in evaluation is to verify funguria by repeating the urinalysis and urine culture (25). Urinary catheterization and broad-spectrum antibiotic usage are the most common risk factors for symptomatic candidiasis in pediatric patients (17).…”