Speciation and Antifungal Susceptiblity Profile of Candida Species –A Study from a Private Diagnostic Reference Lab in Mumbai
Introduction: An increasing trend in infections caused by Candida species in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent individuals has been noted. Contrary to the existing knowledge that C.albicans is the most common species, there has been rise in incidence of infections caused by Non albicans Candida species. Change in resistance pattern has also been noted. The emerging Non albicans Candida species are inherently resistant to some of the groups of antifungal agents. Injudicious use of empiric antifungal therapy results in increasing resistance among the existing susceptible strains. A need to determine local profile of Candida species and their susceptibility pattern is the need of the hour. Aims and objective: The aim of the study was to speciate and determine the anti fungal susceptibility profile of the Candida species isolated from various clinical specimens.Method: A retrospective study was carried out from January, 2018 to June 2020. All Candida isolates recovered during the study period were identified using Germ tube test, ChromAgar , API ID or VITEK2. The susceptibility testing was performed using Sensitre Yeast ONE or VITEK2 and interpreted as per CLSI standard/EUCAST. Results: A total of 273 isolates were identified as Candida species . Candida albicans(42%), was most common followed by C.tropicalis (26%) and C.parasilosis(7% ). 40 % of the isolates were recovered from urine and 26% from Blood. Other less common species included C.sake, C.auris, C.kefry,C.krusei, C.famata, C..rugosa Infections with Candida species were more common in <1 month and> 60 years of age. 19% of C.albicans were resistant to Fluconazole and 8.5% of C.tropicalis were resistant to Voriconazole. Amongst C.sake and C.auris 91% , 100% resistance to Fluconazolewas noted respectively .All isolates remained susceptible to Eichnocandins Conclusion: Resistance to the routinely used antifungal is emerging. Determining the antifungal susceptibility would help to reduce the emergence of drug resistance and effective patient management.