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

Abstract

Background: Candida species originating from either endogenous or exogenous sources are one of the main causes of opportunistic infections. Colonization is an important independent risk factor for invasive candidiasis, and many patients admitted to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) are colonized with Candida species that may result in invasive candidiasis. Awareness among clinicians about various aspects of colonization is critical to optimal management. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and species distribution of Candida strains isolated from predisposed patients hospitalized at Children's Medical Center (CMC), Tehran, Iran. Methods: From June 2014 to June 2016, 347 Candida isolates were collected from 341 patients either hospitalized in different wards or referred as outpatients. The yeasts were identified by colony color characteristics using CHROMagar Candida medium and by amplification of the ITS1-5.8S rDNA-ITS2 region in DNA extracted from each isolate followed by analysis of species specific electrophoretic patterns of PCR products digested with the restriction enzyme MspI. Results: Of the 341 patients, 213 were males and 128 were females. Most samples were obtained from the 1 -12-month age group, and the majority of samples represented urine (n = 182), throat swabs (n = 57), and stool samples (n = 53), respectively. The samples were mostly from patients in general wards. The most commonly isolated species was C. albicans (77%), followed by C. tropicalis (8.4%), C. parapsilosis (7.5%), C. glabrata (2.3%), C. kefyr (1.7%), C. krusei (1.1%), C. lusitaniae (0.6%), C. guilliermondii (0.3%), C. albicans + C. parapsilosis (1.4%), and C. albicans + C. glabrata (0.3%). Conclusions: C. albicans is the most common species isolated from children in Iran, followed by C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis, a prevalence pattern that is relatively different from studies in other countries. Neonates and infants 1 -12 months of age hospitalized in ICU, were more colonized by Candida species than other groups.

High frequency of Candida krusei colonization in critically ill pediatrics: A cross-sectional study in Children’s Medical Center, Tehran, Iran

“…They found that C. albicans was the species most frequently isolated and detected in 77% of the patients. Candida tropicalis was the second-most common species (8.5%) identified in their study [ 35 ].…”

Scientific Opinion on the update of the list of QPS‐recommended biological agents intentionally added to food or feed as notified to EFSA (2017–2019)

“…For instance, Charsizadeh et al. (,b,c) reported the isolation of K. marxianus from patients with suspected candidiasis in neonatal and paediatric intensive care units, although the prevalence of K. marxianus compared to other fungal species was only 1–2%. Jahanshiri et al.…”

Update of the list of QPS‐recommended biological agents intentionally added to food or feed as notified to EFSA 9: suitability of taxonomic units notified to EFSA until September 2018

“…From the remaining 15 references that describe a safety concern, 13 were related to human health (Al‐Tekreeti et al., ; Aslani et al., ; Charsizadeh et al., ,b,c; Jahanshiri et al., ; Nejat et al., ; Ortiz et al., ; Sav et al., ; Scapaticci et al., ; Siavoshi et al., ; Taverna et al., ; Wasilewska and Wroblewska, ); one to animal health (Dangarembizi et al., ) and four to antimicrobial resistance (Sav et al., ; Scapaticci et al., ; Sekyere and Asante, ; Taverna et al., ).…”

“…Out of these 15 papers describing a safety concern for one or several QPS yeast species, 10 referred to Candida kefyr (teleomorph = Kluyveromyces marxianus ) (Al‐Tekreeti et al., ; Aslani et al., ; Charsizadeh et al., ,b,c; Jahanshiri et al., ; Nejat et al., ; Ortiz et al., ; Sav et al., ; Scapaticci et al., )), five to Saccharomyces cerevisiae of which one was identified as Saccharomyces boulardii (Aslani et al., ; Dangarembizi et al., ; Scapaticci et al., ; Sekyere and Asante, ; Wasilewska and Wroblewska, )), five to Candida famata (teleomorph = Debaryomyces hansenii ) (Kumari et al. (); (Mohamed et al., ; Rajkowska and Kunicka‐Styczyńska, ; Taverna et al., ; Vieira et al., ) and one to Hanseniaspora uvarum (Siavoshi et al., ).…”