Oral Candida carriage among HIV infected and non-infected individuals in Tikur Anbesa specialized hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) and oral Candida carriage are common problem in HIV-infected populations. Early detection of oral carriage of Candida species is important for identification of patients with the tendency for rapid progression of HIV infection since oral carriage may influence the development of clinically significant candidiasis in these immunocompromised patients. This study investigated the prevalence and level of oral Candida carriage rate among HIV-infected and non-infected individuals in TikurAnbessa Teaching Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Oral rinse sample was collected from 71 HIV infected and 50 HIV non infected individuals. Out of the total 121 study participants 85(70.2%) were females and 36(29.8%) were males with male to female ratio of 0.4:1. It was found that 66(54.5%) of the study participants were carriers of oral Candida species from which 49(74.3%) were HIV positive. Oral Candida carriage rate among HIV infected participants was 49(69%) where as in HIV non infected participants it was 17(34%). Six Candida species were identified; C. albicanswas the predominant Candida species accounted for 53(80.3%), followed by C. parapsilosis 5(7.6%) and three samples revealed with more than one Candida species. Mean colony density of Candida in HIV positive and HIV negative study participants were 2,145.68+3395.12 CFU/ml and 684.71+1941.520 CFU/ml respectively. In conclusion, not only oral Candida carriage but also the density of Candida colony was higher in HIV infected than non infectedpopulations. C. albicans was the predominant species followed by C. parapsilosis