Candida tropicalis Recovered from a Bone Marrow Aspirate in a Diabetic Patient

In recent years, Candida species other than Candida albicans have emerged as more common causes of human disease, particularly in HIV-infected and other immunocompromised individuals (). Hematogenous dissemination of Candida spp. can produce infection in virtually any organ (). Normal bone is highly resistant to infection, needing exposure to a large microbial inoculum, trauma, or the presence of a foreign body for initiation of an infection (). Factors that predispose patients to systemic Candida infection include immunosuppression during the course of anti-cancer therapy, organ transplantation, parenteral hyperalimentation, indwelling arterial/venous catheters, intravenous drug addiction, diabetes mellitus, broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy, HIV infection, corticosteroid therapy, and myeloperoxidase deficiency (). Direct implantation of Candida spp. is a rare cause of infection (). Invasive candidiasis occurs mostly in immunocompromised patients and is a severe, life-threatening infection, with a mortality rate comparable to that observed in septic shock patients (40 to 60%) (). Candida tropicalis accounts for a high incidence of candidemia in intensive care unit patients ().

Source: Clinical Microbiology Newsletter - January 22, 2013 Category: Microbiology Authors: Chowdappa Aruna, Jayanthi Savio, Soham Gupta, Sethumadhavan Muralidharan Source Type: news