Hospital-acquired candidaemia: experience from a developing country

Thirty-seven episodes of hospital-acquired candidaemia, which occurred over a two-year period, were reviewed. The predominant risk factors were previous antibiotic therapy (100%), indwelling central venous catheter (94.6%), parenteral hyperalimentation (78.3%) and preceding surgery (51.4%). Eighty-nine percent of the patients had three or more risk factors. Candida albicans (56.8%), and Candida tropicalis (13.5%) were the most common isolates. Mortality was 48.6%. No significant difference was observed between patients treated with amphotericin B and those treated with fluconazole. The age of the patient, species of Candida, number of positive blood cultures for Candida, concomitant bacteraemia, and antifungal therapy did not have any significant effect on outcome. Our results were similar, in many aspects, to those reported from developed countries.