Novel Chromogenic Medium CHROMagarTM Candida Plus for Detection of Candida auris and Other Candida Species from Surveillance and Environmental Samples: A Multicenter Study.

Epidemiological trends show a dramatic increase in the prevalence of fungal infections, and in the isolation of multidrug-resistant species, such as Candida auris. CHROMagarTM Candida (CC; CHROMagar, Paris, France) and other chromogenic media, which are widely used in the clinical laboratory because they allow a rapid identification of most Candida species. Recently, CHROMagarTM Candida Plus (CC-Plus; CHROMagar, Paris, France) was developed to detect and differentiate C. auris in addition to other major clinical Candida species, such as C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, or C. krusei. C. auris colonies display a differential light blue color with a blue halo. A multicentric study was designed to evaluate the performance of the CC-Plus medium in the detection of Candida species in patients' surveillance and environmental samples from three Spanish hospitals with active C. auris outbreaks. A total of 364 patients' surveillance samples and 212 environmental samples were tested. Samples were inoculated in CC and CC-Plus in parallel, and the plates were read at 24 and 48 h. All recovered colonies were presumptively identified according to colony color described by manufacturer, and the definitive identification was performed by mass spectrometry at 48 h. A total of 134 C. auris isolates were obtained (101 from patients' surveillance samples, and 33 from environmental samples). Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive positive and negative values were 99.5%, 100%, 100%, and 99.1%, respectively, for the main clinical Candida species, showing that CC-Plus is comparable to CC, with the advantage of being able to differentiate C. auris from C. parapsilosis. Furthermore, CC-Plus was able to detect one C. albicans, one C. glabrata, and eight C. auris that did not grow in CC. Additionally, the yeast colonies were generally larger, suggesting that this novel medium could be a richer medium, and suitable for surveillance and environmental cultures of C. auris and other clinically relevant Candida species.

Infección de prótesis articular de cadera por Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. pasteurianus / Hip prosthesis infection due to Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. pasteurianus

No disponible

Actividad in vitro de la anfotericina B y la anidulafungina sobre biopel¨ªculas de Candida albicans y Candida tropicalis / In vitro activity of amphotericin B and anidulafungin against Candida spp. biofilms

Las infecciones invasoras producidas por Candida spp. han aumentandoconsiderablemente y se est¨¢n convirtiendo en una causa importante demorbilidad y mortalidad en pacientes inmunocomprometidos. Un gran n¨²merode manifestaciones de las candidiasis est¨¢n relacionadas con la formaci¨®n debiopel¨ªculas sobre dispositivos y materiales m¨¦dicos. Las biopel¨ªculas deCandida spp. son refractarias al tratamiento antif¨²ngico convencional.El objetivo de este estudio es doble: 1) determinar la prevalencia deaislamientos productores de biopel¨ªcula a partir de cepas procedentes decat¨¦ter (16 C. albicans) y de hemocultivo (dos C. albicans y 30 C. tropicalis) y,2) determinar la actividad de la anfotericina B y la anidulafungina sobrebiopel¨ªculas de C. albicans y C. tropicalis de 24 y 48 h de maduraci¨®n.La producci¨®n de biopel¨ªcula y la actividad de los antif¨²ngicos sobre lasbiopel¨ªculas se determin¨® mediante el ensayo de reducci¨®n de una sal detetrazolio (XTT). Un 62,5% de los aislamientos de cat¨¦ter y un 56,25% de losprocedentes de hemocultivo produjeron biopel¨ªcula. Por especies, un 68,42%de los aislamientos de C. albicans y un 53,33% de los de C. tropicalisformaron biopel¨ªcula. Las biopel¨ªculas fueron m¨¢s resistentes a la anfotericinay la anidulafungina que sus hom¨®logas planct¨®nicas. La eliminaci¨®n completade la biopel¨ªcula no se consigui¨® ni siquiera a las concentraciones m¨¢s altasde antif¨²ngicos ensayadas. La anidulafungina fue m¨¢s activa que laanfotericina sobre biopel¨ªculas de C. albicans de 24 h de maduraci¨®n(MG-CMIB2 0,354 frente a 0,686 ¦Ìg/ml), pero no fue activa sobre biopel¨ªculasde C. tropicalis. Sin embargo, la anfotericina B fue m¨¢s activa sobre lasbiopel¨ªculas de 48 h de maduraci¨®n de ambas especies(AU)

Invasive infections caused by Candida spp. are increasing worldwide and arebecoming an important cause of morbidity and mortality inimmunocompromised patients. A large number of manifestations ofcandidiasis are associated with the formation of biofilms on inert or biologicalsurfaces. Candida spp. biofilms are recalcitrant to treatment with conventionalantifungal therapies. The aim of this study was dual 1) to determine theprevalence of biofilm producers among clinical isolates from catheter(16 C. albicans ) and blood culture (2 C. albicans and 30 C. tropicalis), and 2)to determine the activity of amphotericin B and anidulafungin against C.albicans and C. tropicalis biofilms of 24 and 48 hours of maturation. Biofilmswere developed using a 96-well microtitre plate model and production and activity of antifungal agents against biofilms were determined by thetetrazolium (XTT) reduction assay. Of catheter and blood isolates, 62.5 and56.25%, respectively, produced biofilms. By species, 68.42% of C. albicansand 53.33% of C. tropicalis were biofilm producers. C. albicans biofilmsshowed more resistance to amphotericin B and anidulafungin than theirplanktonic counterparts. Complete killing of biofilms was never achieved, evenat the highest concentrations of the drugs tested. Anidulafungin displayedmore activity than amphotericin B against C. albicans biofilms of 24 hours ofmaturation (GM MIC 0.354 vs. 0.686 ¦Ìg/ml), but against C. tropicalis biofilmsamphotericin B was more active (GM MIC 11.285 vs. 0.476 ¦Ìg/ml). In contrast,against biofilms with 48 hours maturation, amphotericin B was more activeagainst both species(AU)