Clinicomycological study of candidiasis.

Opportunistic pathogens like candida are responsible for a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the chronically debilitated and the immunocompromised patient. The clinical data of 100 patients from whom candida species were repeatedly isolated were analysed. Most of the patients (40%) were above 51 years. Postoperative patients (34%) and patients with diabetes mellitus (30%) had a high incidence of candidiasis. All these patients had either long standing indwelling catheters or were on prolonged antibiotics, steroids or cytotoxic drugs as a part of the management for the underlying cause. Candida albicans (38.9%) and Candida stellatoidea (37.1%) were the most common species isolated. Maximum isolation was from urine (140) mostly obtained from patients with indwelling urinary catheters for more than a week or so. None received antifungal therapy except four, two of them died in spite of appropriate antifungal therapy.