#Candida speciation

[oaresearchpaper]

Candida Species Identification in Resource-Limited Clinical Settings

Abstract

Candidiasis is worldwide in distribution, and is one of the common fungal diseases isolated in man, which affects the skin, mucosa and various internal organs. It is caused by various species of Candida, which is a yeast-like fungi that produce pseudohyphae. Speciation helps to understand the epidemiology of Candida species particularly, the source and mode of transmission of resistant pathogens. Various commercially available chromogenic agar medium has been studied and evaluated for presumptive identification of various species of Candida. The present study was conducted for a duration of 12 months from the month of July 2019 to the month of July 2020, in the Department of Microbiology at a medical college in Siddipet, with prior approval of institutional ethics committee. The present study was aimed at isolating and identifying the Candida species from various clinical samples by using chromogenic media for easy and rapid speciation in addition to the time consuming and labour-intensive conventional methods. Among the Candida isolates the most frequently isolated species was found to be Candida albicans. In the present study non-albicans Candida (NAC) (50.91%) had predominance over Candida albicans (49.09%). In our study, an increase in the number of cases caused by NAC was noted though the most common species isolated was Candida albicans. CHROMagar was found to be a simple, easy and also a rapid method for Candida species detection. It considerably reduced the turn-around-time.

Introduction

Candidiasis is worldwide in distribution, and is one of the common fungal diseases isolated in man, which affects the skin, mucosa and various internal organs. It is caused by various species of Candida, which is a yeast-like fungi that produce pseudohyphae. (Apurba S Sastry, Essentials of Medical Microbiology, 3rd Ed) The genus Candida belongs to Phylum: Imperfectii, the Order Moniliales and family Cryptococcaceae. (Chander J. Candidiasis. In: A textbook of Medical Mycology, 3rd Ed.) Candida is a human commensal, but it becomes an opportunistic pathogen because of any pre-disposing factors which impair, immune response to the microorganisms. eg: AIDS, immunosuppressive chemotherapy, metabolic diseases, or cause an imbalance, in favour of fungal microflora e.g., Antibiotics, disrupt the integrity of the integument e.g., intravenous catheters, surgery. The source of infection is mostly endogenous, but in some cases, Candida can be introduced by exogenous sources too (Esther Segal and Daniel Elad. Candidiasis. Topley and Wilson’s Microbiology and Microbial Infections. Medical Mycology. 10thEd.) Fungal infections, especially those caused by Candida species, has significantly increased, in the past decade, in immuno- compromised patients. (Dharmeswari T., 2014)

The conventional method of fungal culture on SDA is tedious and often isolation and detection are difficult in mixed cultures. This led to the use of many chromogenic agar which enables the detection based on colour of the colony. (Baradkar VP, 2010; Moyer GJ, 1995; Murray MP, 2005; Louwagie B, 1995; Odds FC, 1994; Pfaller MA, 1996; Raut SH, 2009). Speciation of various species of Candida is based on the colour of the colony along with other characteristic. This differentiation is facilitated by the presence of chromogenic substrates that produce different pigmentations based on specific enzymes produced by the specific candida species. (Lynn L., 2003)

CHROMagar Candida is of great use in clinical specimens suspected to contain yeast and hence can be used as a medium for primary isolation even in a resource limited setting as it requires less expertise. Moreover, it can act as a differential medium even if candida is isolated from other media like SDA or blood agar. (Odds FC, 1994) Though the biggest limitation of the medium could be the cost but the advantage in reducing the turn-around time can still be of great significance when compared to various conventional methods of identification.

Speciation helps to understand the epidemiology of Candida species particularly the source and mode of transmission of resistant pathogens. (Shaheen M.A, 2006) Conventional methods for speciation are more time consuming and laborious, therefore, in the present study CHROMagar has been used for rapid identification of various species of Candida.

The present study was aimed at isolating and identifying various Candida species from clinical samples by using chromogenic media for easy and rapid speciation in addition to the time consuming and labour-intensive conventional methods.

Source : Phenotypic identification of Candida species from various clinical samples in a resource limited setting

#Candida speciation #CHROM agar #Candida albicans #Non-albicans Candida #Hi Candida identification kit

[garrettimchuynh]

Yeast An Infection Symptoms & Causes

The doctor could use a special DNA tests to detect yeast or other organisms in the discharge. Thrush – The mouth lining, tongue, and/or angles of the mouth are red, cracked, or have white patches. Various species of Candida yeast develop in over half of healthy adults. Talk together with your pediatrician if you assume your child may have symptoms of Candida an infection, or each time you have any questions about your child's well being. It’s additionally commonly seen during being pregnant and amongst postmenopausal individuals on hormone substitute therapy whose estrogen ranges are being artificially raised. That’s why it’s greatest to visit a medical skilled, so they can do an examination and swab check. Herpesyl of the time this an infection is attributable to a tiny fungus known as "Candida albicans," "Candida," or yeast. It is normal to have a small quantity of Candida in your vagina. If you get recurrent yeast infections, let your doctor know if they’re contemplating prescribing an antibiotic. The variety of circumstances of vaginal yeast an infection isn't totally clear as a result of it's not a reportable illness and it's generally recognized clinically without laboratory affirmation. Other therapies after greater than four episodes per yr, may include ten days of both oral or topical treatment followed by fluconazole orally as soon as per week for six months. About 10-15% of recurrent candidal vulvovaginitis cases are because of non-Candida albicans species. Non-albicans species are inclined to have higher ranges of resistance to fluconazole. Therefore, recurrence or persistence of symptoms whereas on treatment indicates speciation and antifungal resistance tests to tailor antifungal therapy.

#Herpes #Disease

[kristilouis]

Authors- Sanjeev Nanda, Nidhi Goel, Prabhat K Ranjan, Ritu Aggarwal, Uma Chaudhary,

Publication date — 2009/7

Journal- Journal of laboratory physicians

Volume-1

Issue- 2

Pages- 53

Publisher- Medknow Publications

Description

Aims:

To know the distribution and antifungal susceptibility pattern of Candida species in neonatal septicemia cases.

Materials and Methods:

In a prospective analysis blood samples from 825 clinically suspected cases of neonatal septicemia, collected aseptically, were cultured to look for the role of Candida spp. in septicemia. Candida isolates were speciated by germ tube test, Hi-CHROME agar, sugar fermentation, and sugar assimilation tests using standard protocol. All the Candida isolates were tested for antifungal susceptibility to fluconazole by the Disk Diffusion (DD) method and broth micro dilution-minimum inhibitory concentration (BMD-MIC) method using NCCLS guidelines.

Source: https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=mDjZBR4AAAAJ&hl=en

#sanjeev-nanda #PCM-professor #PCM