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Updated: Jun 20, 2025
Whole Genome Sequencing of Candida glabrata for Detection of Markers of Antifungal Drug Resistance
Published on: December 28, 2017
Candida Isolation During COVID-19: Microbiological Findings of a Prospective Study in a Regional Hospital
Jaquelin Naranjo-Bravo1, Daniel Romero-Romero2, Araceli Contreras-Rodríguez3
1Medical Bacteriology Laboratory. Department of Microbiology, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico; General Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico.
Background:
Prolonged hospitalization due to the COVID-19 pandemic gathered risk factors for developing invasive candidiasis.
Aim:
To describe Candida spp. isolated from patients with clinical suspicion of COVID treated in a public hospital specialized in COVID-19 during the pandemic, considering the susceptibility profiles and the risk factors related to the species detected in a positive yeast culture.
Methods:
From different samples of 33 patients with comorbidities, 42 clinical isolates were identified by VITEKⓇ MS Plus. Antifungal susceptibility testing was performed using VITEKⓇ 2 Compact with the AST-YS08 card.
Results:
The most frequently identified species were C. albicans and C. glabrata, which were also the most common co-infections, Saprochaete capitata, an uncommon yeast was isolated in one patient. 85% of the co-infections were COVID positive and 100% of patients with a co-infection required mechanical ventilation (MV) which has been described as one of the major predisposing factors to candidiasis. Candida species vary in their response to treatment. In this study, 44% of isolates identified as C. glabrata were fluconazole-resistant, which were also immediately susceptible to caspofungin; this profile limits therapeutic options and emphasizes the importance of evaluating the susceptibility profile.
Conclusions:
This work highlights the increase in isolation of different Candida species during COVID-19 and the importance of establishing criteria to declare Candida colonization or infection and the correct etiological identification to establish an agent-based antifungal treatment, to reduce the spreading risk of Candida spp. in the hospital environment, mortality, time, and cost of hospitalization.
