Five-year laboratory-based study of candida albicans versus non-albicans candida species at a tertiary pediatric care hospital in Iran

Objective: To determine the distribution of Candida albicans and non-albicans Candida species in various specimen types of pediatric patients Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study using laboratory database Setting: Children�s Medical Center, Tehran, Iran from 2012 to 2016 Subjects: All specimens from pediatric patients with positive culture for Candida species in microbiological examinations Intervention: None Main outcome measures: Frequency of Candida species in different specimen types for five years Results: During the study period, 2755 out of 2,95,525 (0.93) specimens were positive for Candida growth in culture. Of them, 550 (19.96) were from normally sterile specimens or sites. C. albicans was the predominant species (68.9), significantly isolated from both genders (P=.009), and all age groups (P=.011). However, in 2014 and 2015, almost 50 of isolates from normally sterile specimens or sites were non-albicans Candida species. Urine samples were the greatest source of isolation (n=1314, 47.7), followed by throat swabs (n=472, 17.1) and blood specimens (n=344, 12.5). Children were the prevailing age group for Candida isolation (n=1435, 52.1), followed by infants (n=1012, 36.7) and neonates (n=308, 11.2). Conclusion: C. albicans was the dominant species in Children�s Medical Center. However, the proportion of non-albicans Candida species was higher in some specimen types and the frequency of Candida species was different in various wards. These data could be beneficial in a clinical setting. © 2020, Kuwait Medical Association. All rights reserved