Candidiasis: Prevalence and resistance profiling in a tertiary care hospital of Pakistan

Objective: to determine candida colonisation/infection in renal transplant patients and to determine the resistance pattern against antifungal drugs. method: this prospective,observational study was conducted at al-sayyed hospital,rawalpindi,pakistan,from january to october 2014,in collaboration with the microbiology and public health laboratory's,islamabad campus..the clinical specimens investigated included respiratory tract secretions,blood,urine,high vaginal swab,skin scrapings,and plastic devices samples. results: of the 7,850 samples,164(2.08%) were positive for candida. candida albicans were most prevalent as they were found in 114(69%) samples. besides,56(34%) of the positive samples were resistant to one or more antifungal agents. highest resistance was obtained against fluconazole. we found only 5(3.04%) positive samples of candida glabrata; of them,3(60%)were resistant. in case of candida spp,27(48%) resistance was observed. in candida albicans,23(41%) of the samples were found to be resistant. most of the candida isolates was recovered from bronchial alveolar lavage. conclusion: although candida albicans remained the main responsible species for candida infections,but non-albican candida species are also emerging. © 2017,pakistan medical association. all rights reserved.