ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The incidence of candidemia in paediatric patients has increased over the last decade. We analysed the clinical characteristics of pediatric patients with candidemia over a 3-year period in Chonnam National University Hospital. METHODS: The medical records of 28 patients with candidemia diagnosed between 1996 and 1998 were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical characteristics including underlying illness, risk factors, therapy and outcome were assessed in relation to causing Candida species. RESULTS: The causing agents were mainly non-C. albicans species (24/28 cases, 81.5%). Underlying illnesses of patients were malignancy (n=12), surgical diseases (n=4), prematurity (n=2), and other medical illnesses of (n=10). Studies on clinical status at positive culture revealed antibiotic exposure (28/28, 100%), placement of central venous catheter (CVC, 16/28, 57.1%), use of total parenteral nutrition (15/28, 53.6%), and chemotherapy (14/28, 50%). Twenty patients were treated with amphotericin B and/or fluconazole and 15 patients'CVCs were removed. Overall mortality due to candidemia was 25%(7/28). CONCLUSIONS: These data show that most of pediatric candidemia cases are caused by non-C. albicans species and associated with a relatively lower mortality rate
