ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Pradeep Reddy Anam1 , Ved Prakash2, Deepika Verma2 and Ramesh Babu Myneni3
1Rohilkhand Medical College & Hospital, Bareilly International University, Bareilly, UP, India.
2Department of Microbiology, Rohilkhand Medical College & Hospital, Bareilly International University, Bareilly, UP, India.
3Department of Microbiology, NRI Medical College & Hospital, Chinakakani, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Article Number: 9075 | © The Author(s). 2023
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2023;17(4):2437-2442. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.17.4.41
Received: 22 October 2023 | Accepted: 11 November 2023 | Published online: 30 November 2023
Issue online: December 2023
Abstract

In the recent past, the incidence of Candidiasis has witnessed a concerning upsurge, resulting in a significant healthcare challenge. These infections are further exacerbated by factors like the widespread use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials, chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, and the presence of medical devices. The present study is designed to address the critical need for identifying the Candida species responsible for clinical infections and assessing their susceptibility to key antifungal drugs Fluconazole, Voriconazole, and Itraconazole. Two hundred clinical samples from Rohilkhand Medical College & Hospital, Bareilly were analyzed. Using Vitek-2 Compact (Biomerieux, France), the Candida spp. and the antifungal drug sensitivities were identified for Fluconazole and Voriconazole. E-test was done to identify Itraconazole sensitivity. This study found that C. albicans accounted for 21.5% while Non-albicans Candida (NAC) constituted 78.5%. Prolonged medication was the most common factor making susceptible for Candidiasis (43.5%), followed by indwelling biomedical devices (23%), Diabetes mellitus (16%), surgical causes (5.5%), trauma (5%), pregnancy (5%), and HIV (2%). Antifungal susceptibility testing showed that 68.5%, 72%, and 69.5% of Candida spp. isolates were sensitive to Fluconazole, Voriconazole, and Itraconazole, respectively. In conclusion, non-albicans Candida infections are increasing due to predisposing conditions, and some of these species are inherently resistant to the routinely used antifungal drugs. The study emphasizes the importance of identifying Candida spp. and their susceptibility to antifungals. This can limit the indiscriminate use of antifungal drugs, aid in selecting appropriate treatments, and reduce treatment costs, hospital stays, and patient morbidity and mortality.

Keywords

Antifungal Susceptibility, Azoles, Candida, Non-albicans Candida

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© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.