Distribution of Yeast and Mold Species Isolated from Clinical Specimens at 12 Hospitals in Korea during 2011 / 대한임상미생물학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The incidence of fungal infections varies among hospitals and between different time periods. We performed a nationwide survey in Korea to investigate the distribution of yeast and mold species recovered from clinical specimens. METHODS: The distributions of clinical isolates of yeast and mold species obtained from 12 university hospitals between January and December 2011 were evaluated relative to the hospital and specimen type. RESULTS: A total of 39,533 fungal isolates (37,847 yeast and 1,686 mold isolates) were obtained. C. albicans was the predominant species (49.4%) among the yeast isolates from all clinical specimens, followed by C. glabrata (7.2%) and C. tropicalis (6.5%). For 5,248 yeast isolates from sterile body fluids, blood was the most common source of yeasts (71.1%), followed by peritoneal fluid (9.4%). Although C. albicans was the predominant species at all but two hospitals, the rate of non-albicans Candida species varied from 71.2% to 40.1%, depending on the hospital. The yeast species recovered most frequently from the sterile body fluids was C. albicans (41.7%), followed by C. parapsilosis (17.8%) and C. glabrata (14.4%), while that from non-sterile sites was C. albicans (50.7%), followed by C. glabrata (6.0%) and C. tropicalis (5.5%). For mold-forming fungi, Aspergillus species (62.3%) were most common, followed by Trichophyton species (15.4%). Respiratory specimens were the most common source of molds (39.6%), followed by abscesses/wounds (28.4%) and tissues (17.5%). CONCLUSION: The rank order of distribution for different fungal species varied among hospitals and specimen types. Continual national surveillance programs are essential for identifying possible changes in fungal infection patterns.