Abstract

PREVALENCE, RISK FACTOR AND OUTCOME OF CANDIDA INFECTION IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: SINGLE CENTRE REAL WORLD SCENARIO

Snehali Majumder*, Mahadeva Prasad, Mallika K. Reddy, Prasadini Guru, Annie Rofeena Sinazer, Delitia Manual and Harish Mallapura Maheshwarappa*

ABSTRACT

Background: Candida accounts for nearly 96% of all opportunistic mycoses. In recent decades, there has been progressive shift from a predominance of Candida albicans (C. albicans) toward a predominance of non-albicans Candida spp., especially C. tropicalis, C. auris, C. glabrata and C. parapsilosis. In our center with the help of Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight MALDI-TOF we are able to diagnose infections caused by different species of Candida. Data from Indian patients visiting a large tertiary care centre in Bangalore, India were included based on inclusion criteria. Patient demographics and laboratory results were collected from the hospital medical records department (MRD) and hospital electronic database. All data was anonymised to remove any patient-protected health information (PHI). We identified 133 patients with Candida infection. A total of 21.2% (n=21) out of the 99 suspected cases had active COVID-19 infection (positive RT-PCR) during the period of data collection. The median age was 46 years (25.0-62.0); and 60.2% (n=80) patients were male. There were no significant differences in demographic characteristics between survivors and non-survivors, except among ICU patients 55.6% (n=74), who had invasive interventions. In a tertiary care facility, catering to a large patient pool with various medical needs, the invasive Candida infections need to be closely monitored and tackled. Sudden outbreaks of Candida not only add to the disease burden but also lead to a substantial financial burden for both the patient and the hospital.

Keywords: Candida spp., prevalence, risk factors, outcome, mortality, COVID-19.