title: [Rapid identification of Candida albicans: evaluation of "Rapidec albicans". Study of 444 yeast strains].
abstract: Rapid identification of Candida albicans is of great importance as it is the most frequently isolated yeast pathogen. Rapidec albicans, a new 2-h micromethod, performs two fluorescent enzymatic activities: hexosaminidase and proline arylamidase. A total of 444 yeast strains (334 from type culture collections and 110 from recent clinical isolates) were tested. The sensitivity was 98.5% and the specificity 95.8%. When only considering the clinical strains, 47/47 Candida albicans were identified by Rapidec albicans (sensitivity 100%) but only 43/47 by the germ tube test (sensitivity 91.5%). The specificities of the two tests were respectively 98.2% and 100%. This new system is therefore very efficient for the routine diagnosis of Candida albicans in the clinical field. It is easier and quicker than the germ tube test.
authors.affiliation: Département de parasitologie, mycologie médicale et moléculaire (DP3M), université J-Fourier-Grenoble I, URA CNRS 1344, CHU A-Michallon, France.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fricker
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Monget
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lebeau
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Babolat
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ambroise-Thomas
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grillot
mesh_terms: D002176:Candida albicans / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009172:Mycology / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
vernacular_title: Identification rapide de Candida albicans: évaluation de "Rapidec albicans". Etude de 444 souches de levures.