Incidence and antifungal susceptibility of Candida species in neonatal septicemia

Abstract

Septicemia is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates. In this study, 828 consecutive neonates suspected of having septicemia from various neonatal intensive care unit hospitals in Gulbarga, Karnataka were investigated for isolation of microorganisms. Two samples of blood were collected aseptically for isolating the etiology. The cultures were positive in 346 (41.9%) cases for aerobic bacteria and 68 (8.3%) for Candida species. Among Candida species, C. tropicalis-27(39.7%) was the predominant organism followed by C. albicans 16(23.5%) and C. guillermondi 13(19.1%). The standard macrobroth dilution method was carried out to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC); C. krusei ATCC 6258 standard strain was included for quality control purpose. 4(25.0%) stains of C. albicans were resistant to amphotericin-? and 2(12.5%) to fluconazole. High-level resistance to fluconazole was observed in C. krusei 4(40.0%).