A new slide latex agglutination test was compared with microscopy and culture for diagnosing vaginal candidosis in 367 women attending a genitourinary medicine clinic. Vaginal candidosis occurred in 10% of the patients, and 7% had commensal carriage of Candida spp. The slide latex agglutination test was superior to microscopy in immediate diagnosis and was rapid and simple to perform. Of the pa...

While proliferating in its most common mode of growth, a biofilm, Candida spp. exhibit increased resistance to available antifungal agents. These adherent communities are difficult to eradicate and often responsible for treatment failures. New therapies are urgently needed to treat a variety of Candida biofilm infections in the medical setting. This review discusses the medical relevance of Can...

The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of lucknomycin, a new polyenic derivative, were determined for 101 clinical isolates of Candida, 38 clinical or environmental strains of Aspergillus fumigatus, and 30 isolates of A. niger. The most susceptible species were Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis (mean MIC, 0.4 micrograms/ml). Aspergillus spp. were less susceptible, with mean MICs of ...

Candida biofilm infections pose an increasing threat in the health care setting due to the drug resistance associated with this lifestyle. Several mechanisms underlie the resistance phenomenon. In Candida albicans, one mechanism involves drug impedance by the biofilm matrix linked to β-1,3 glucan. Here, we show this is important for other Candida spp. We identified β-1,3 glucan in the matrix, f...

We performed Etest, disk diffusion, and broth microdilution susceptibility testing of 2,171 clinical isolates of Candida spp. against posaconazole. By using provisional breakpoints for comparison purposes only, the categorical agreement between the agar-based methods and broth microdilution results ranged from 93 to 98%, with <1% very major errors. The essential agreement (within 2 well dilutio...

INTRODUCTION Amphotericin B (AMB) is an antifungal agent used extensively in clinical medicine, yet resistance remains low. This study aims to evaluate the susceptibility of Candida spp. against AMB. METHODS For broth microdilution susceptibility testing, 77 strains of Candida spp. were selected (32 C. albicans, 33 C. tropicalis, and 12 C. parapsilosis). The strains were considered susceptibl...

!"#$%"&"'("#)*#+,(%)-,./#0/+#)'#1!"#&2%*.("#)*# maxillary dentures is an important etiologic factor in denture stomatitis1,3,4,6-8,13,20,22,32,32,38,40. Denture base acrylic resin is easily colonized by oral endogenous bacteria and Candida spp., and eventually by extraoral species such as Staphylococcus spp. or members of enterobacteriaceae. This microbial reservoir can be responsible for dentu...

BACKGROUND Blood stream infections (BSIs) are major causes of morbidity and mortality in burn patients. Microorganisms responsible for BSI are generally bacteria; however, Candida spp. are the infection agents in as many as 8% of all cases. Burn wound colonization and infections are generally the first steps to systemic infection. Candidemia in burn patients has been associated with high mortal...

As candidosis incidence continue to rise, quick laboratory identification of Candida species is becoming increasingly important for a growing population of patients at-risk. RAPD techniques were used on samples of Candida obtained from patients hospitalized at Santa Casa de Misericordia in Belo Horizonte (SCMBH) Brazil, from March 1998 to December 2000 and then compared with the results of phen...

INTRODUCTION Knowledge of the microbiology of surgical infections after abdominal surgery can be of use when prescribing effective empirical antibiotic treatments. METHOD Analysis of surgical infections after abdominal surgery in patients enrolled in the Prevalence of Infections in Spanish Hospitals (EPINE) corresponding to the years 1999-2006. RESULTS During the period of the study, 2,280 ...