title: Non-albicans Candida Infection: An Emerging Threat.
abstract: The very nature of infectious diseases has undergone profound changes in the past few decades. Fungi once considered as nonpathogenic or less virulent are now recognized as a primary cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised and severely ill patients. Candida spp. are among the most common fungal pathogens. Candida albicans was the predominant cause of candidiasis. However, a shift toward non-albicans Candida species has been recently observed. These non-albicans Candida species demonstrate reduced susceptibility to commonly used antifungal drugs. In the present study, we investigated the prevalence of non-albicans Candida spp. among Candida isolates from various clinical specimens and analysed their virulence factors and antifungal susceptibility profile. A total of 523 Candida spp. were isolated from various clinical specimens. Non-albicans Candida species were the predominant pathogens isolated. Non-albicans Candida species also demonstrated the production of virulence factors once attributed to Candida albicans. Non-albicans Candida demonstrated high resistance to azole group of antifungal agents. Therefore, it can be concluded that non-albicans Candida species have emerged as an important cause of infections. Their isolation from clinical specimen can no longer be ignored as a nonpathogenic isolate nor can it be dismissed as a contaminant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Rural Medical College, Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences (Deemed University), Loni, Maharashtra 413736, India.
authors.forename: Sachin C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Deorukhkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Rural Medical College, Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences (Deemed University), Loni, Maharashtra 413736, India.
authors.forename: Santosh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saini
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Rural Medical College, Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences (Deemed University), Loni, Maharashtra 413736, India.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1458-5663
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mathew