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Antifungal Susceptibility of Bloodstream Candida Isolates in Sfax Hospital: Tunisia

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Abstract

Invasive candidiasis has emerged as an important nosocomial infection, causing significant morbidity and mortality especially among critically ill patients. The aim of our study was to determine specie distribution and resistance profiles of Candida species isolated from blood cultures.

Materials and Methods

We conducted a retrospective study of all episodes of candidemia diagnosed in our laboratory from January 2006 to May 2009. The susceptibility to antifungal agents of all Candida isolates was tested by using a Sensititre® YeastOne panel.

Results

A total of 130 Candida isolates were recovered from blood cultures. Candida tropicalis was the most frequent specie (37.7%), followed by C. albicans (22.3%), C. glabrata (19.2%), and C. parapsilosis (12.2%). All the isolates were inhibited by ≤1 μg/ml of amphotericin B and ≤2 μg/ml of caspofungin. For fluconazole, 7.3% of clinical isolates were resistant. It was most active against C. parapsilosis (100% susceptible), C. albicans (95.8% susceptible), and C. tropicalis (94% susceptible). All of the fluconazole-susceptible isolates were susceptible to voriconazole, as were 83.3% of the fluconazole-susceptible-dose-dependent isolates. Among fluconazole-resistant isolates, 85.7% were susceptible to voriconazole.

Conclusions

In our institution, C. tropicalis was the most frequent specie isolated from the bloodstream. Caspofungin had an excellent in vitro activity against Candida isolates and was the drug of choice among fluconazole-resistant isolates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Parasitic and Fungal Molecular Biology, Medicine School, 3029, Sfax, Tunisia

    A. Sellami, H. Sellami, S. Néji, F. Makni, S. Abbes, F. Cheikhrouhou, S. Khaled & A. Ayadi

  2. Intensive Care Unit, Habib Bourguiba Sfax Hospital, Sfax, Tunisia

    H. Chelly & M. Bouaziz

  3. Department of Infectious Diseases, Hedi Chaker Sfax Hospital, Sfax, Tunisia

    B. Hammami & M. Ben Jemaa

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  1. A. Sellami
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Correspondence to A. Ayadi.

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Sellami, A., Sellami, H., Néji, S. et al. Antifungal Susceptibility of Bloodstream Candida Isolates in Sfax Hospital: Tunisia. Mycopathologia 171, 417–422 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-010-9388-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-010-9388-0

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