Candida Species Isolation, Identification and Biofilm Detection at a Tertiary Care Hospital

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Early diagnosis and accurate treatment ofcandida infected patients helps to reduce the risk of infectionand improves patient outcome. Candida isolation, speciationand its invasiveness can be determined by culture, antigen andantibody estimation, glucan estimation and PCR. The presentstudy aimed at candida isolation, speciation and detection ofbiofilm production among various clinical samples.Material and Methods: Various clinical samples such asurine, pus, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, body fluids, tissue, oraland ear swabs etc. were collected from patients in a sterilecontainer and transported immediately to Microbiologylaboratory and processed according to standard protocols.Results: Out of 64 candida isolates from various clinicalisolates, Majority were Candida albicans (37.5%), followed bycandida tropicalis (32.8%), candida krusei (20.3%), Candidaparapsilosis (6.2%) and Candida glabrata (3.1%).Conclusion: Early diagnosis and accurate treatment ofcandida infected patients helps to reduce the risk of infectionand improves patient outcome. Assessing biofilm productionof candida isolates helps us to plan treatment and identify theniche for production of biofilms