ISOLATION OF CANDIDA SPECIES FROM CLINICAL SPECIMENS WITH THEIR ANTIFUNGAL SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN: AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY FROM PAKISTAN

Abstract

Objectives:This study aimed to observe the prevalence of Candida infection in hospital-admitted patients and observe their antifungal susceptibility to treat these admitted patients according to their sensitivity,

Methods:This study was conducted on 105 isolates of Candida species obtained from various clinical samples, including urine, cerebrospinal fluid, invasive catheter tips, blood, and tracheal secretions of patients admitted to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan. The patients taking antifungal and outpatient department samples were excluded from this study. Each sample was processed according to standard operating procedures in the microbiology laboratory of Lahore General Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, affiliated with Post Graduate Medical Institute, Ameer ud din Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan.

Results:The frequency of Candida species is found to be 5.71% in patients admitted to tertiary care. The most common isolated Candida spp. was Candida tropicalis, followed by Candida albicans. A 27.6% Fluconazole resistance was observed in the isolates. There was no Amphotericin resistance in the Candida isolates both by disc diffusion and on minimum inhibitory concentrations MIC method.

Conclusion:Resistance against the antifungal azole group was observed in the current study. More studies on fungal infection should be conducted in the healthcare sector of developing countries to add more information regarding new emerging resistant fungal infections