Colonization of nasal ulcers as a source of Candida parapsilosis fungemia.

Candida parapsilosis fungemia secondary to nasal colonization following application of nasal prongs for oxygen therapy developed in a 61-year-old man with known chronic lymphocytic leukemia and pulmonary infiltrates. Amphotericin B controlled the candidal infection, but the patient died of complications related to Aspergillus pneumonitis, intra-abdominal mucormycosis, and leukemia. The source of candidal infection was probably a combination of nasal ulceration resulting from oxygen administration by nasal prongs and alteration of the normal mucosal flora by multiple broad-spectrum antibiotics. Oxygen administration by mask to patients at risk of opportunistic infections may help obviate this potential complication, with its attendant danger of spread to the brain and cavernous sinuses. We discuss the rarity of triple infection with these three organisms.