[Habitats for Candida in medical and hygienic respects]

The at present acknowledged 163 species of the genus Candida are living in different habitats. Agents of human candidosis have a comparatively restricted natural distribution, and have been discovered primarily in association with men and animals. Candida albicans holds an exceptional position opposite to the nearly 20 non-C. albicans-species with medical importance. Primary habitat is the digestive tract of men and warm-blooded animals. C. albicans is not ubiquitously distributed in the nature. Carriers of Candida may contaminate their immediate environment with yeasts, but that contamination does not usually spread far. C. albicans survives poorly on dry surfaces, a little bit longer in moist materials. Some non-C. albicans-species have their habitat also in the digestive tracts of men and animals, but different to C. albicans they are also ubiquitously distributed in the surroundings (soil, plants, foods, forages) and are much more resistant to environmental influences. The most important source of Candida species in human diseases is endogenous. The via exogen contamination arising mycoses are involved above all by non-C. albicans-species. The different habitats of the Candida species are decisive for the direct and indirect transmission of yeasts to humans and also for the preventive measures against endogenous and exogenous nosocomial Candida mycoses.