Distribution and antifungal susceptibility profiles of Candida species isolated from candidemia patients admitted to Egyptian tertiary hospitals: a cross-sectional study

• Published in: BMC infectious diseases Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 1177 - 7
• Main Authors: Aziz, Heba Sherif Abdel, Ismail, Dalia Kadry, Mohammed, Nessma Sayed Ahmed, Elgendy, Marwa O, Bassiouny, Dina M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 18-10-2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Aged; Antifungal activity; Antifungal agents; Antifungal Agents - pharmacology; Antifungals; Automation; Blood; Blood culture; Bottles; Candida; Candida - classification; Candida - drug effects; Candida - isolation & purification; Candidemia; Candidemia - drug therapy; Candidemia - epidemiology; Candidemia - microbiology; Candidiasis; Care and treatment; Caspofungin; Chemotherapy; Child; Child, Preschool; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes; Diagnosis; Dosage and administration; Egypt - epidemiology; Female; Fungicides; Geographical distribution; Hospital patients; Hospitals; Humans; Identification; Infant; Infections; Length of stay; MALDI-TOF MS; Male; Medical equipment; Medical examination; Micafungin; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Middle Aged; Patients; Pediatrics; Plastic surgery; Resistance; Sample size; Species; Tertiary Care Centers; VITEK; Voriconazole; Voriconazole - pharmacology; Yeast; Young Adult; Egypt; Antifungals; Resistance; MALDI-TOF MS; VITEK; Candidemia
• ISSN: 1471-2334; 1471-2334
• DOI: 10.1186/s12879-024-10007-w

Candidemia is a widespread threat that can lead to significant complications in healthcare settings.
Our study aimed to identify isolates of Candida isolated from blood culture bottles of patients with candidemia and assess their antifungal susceptibility profiles.
We conducted a cross-sectional study at Cairo University tertiary care hospitals over 16 months including 90 patients. Candida isolates were collected from blood culture bottles, and identified using MALDI-TOF MS technology of VITEK MS PRIME (bioMérieux) with the corresponding database VITEK IVD Database 3.2. followed by antifungal susceptibility testing using VITEK 2 Compact system.
Candida albicans was the most common species isolated from both pediatric and adult patients with percentages of 47.3% and 36.4% respectively, followed by Candida parapsilosis with percentages of 32.6% and 25.0% respectively. Voriconazole showed the highest antifungal activity at 90.9% of isolates in adults and 95.7% in pediatrics, followed by caspofungin and micafungin. The mean hospital stays for adults ranged from 8 to 30 days and from 10 to 42 days in the pediatric group.
C. albicans remains the predominant species isolated from both pediatric and adult candidemia patients, despite a notable increase in other species. C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis are considered the most common non-albicans Candida (NAC) species. The rise in Candida species other than albicans highlights the urgent need for effective antifungal stewardship programs. Voriconazole exhibited the higher antifungal activity followed by caspofungin and micafungin.