title: [Oral Candida in Mexican children with malnutrition, social marginalization, or HIV/AIDS].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Determine the frequency of candida in the oral cavity of children with a risk of developing opportunistic infections, and establish if there is an association between the frequency of this oral colonization and three categories of at-risk populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four infant population groups in Mexico were studied: an HIV/AIDS group undergoing highly active antiretroviral therapy (35 girls and 25 boys); a malnourished group (26 girls and 29 boys); a group from the Tarahumara indigenous people, one of the poorest ethnic populations in the country (37 girls and 20 boys); and a control group (8 girls and 21 boys in apparently good health). The children with HIV/AIDS were immunologically and virologically classified according to the EC Clearinghouse criteria, while malnutrition was determined through the World Health Organization's weight/height index. A sample of oral mucosa was taken with a sterile swab, which was incubated in Sabouraud dextrose agar and in Candida CHROMagar®. The species of candida were confirmed through the API ID32C test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The HIV/AIDS and malnutrition groups showed the higher frequency of Candida spps (51.7% and 38.2%, respectively), while the frequency level in the Tarahumara group was similar to that of the control group (17.5% versus 10.3%). With regard to the species of candida, the malnutrition group had the greatest diversity: C. albicans, C. tropical, C. krusei, and C. glabrata.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The children with HIV/AIDS and malnutrition require strategies designed to reduce oral candidal colonization and reduce the risk of opportunistic infections.
authors.forename: Luis Alberto
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Gaitán-Cepeda
authors.forename: Luis Octavio
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Vargas
authors.forename: Noris
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pavia-Ruz
authors.forename: Rocío
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Muñoz-Hernández
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Villegas-Ham
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caballos-Salobreña
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002175:Candida / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002180:Candidiasis, Oral / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008800:Mexico; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data