Genotypic relatedness of yeast isolates from women infected with human immunodeficiency virus and their children

The objective of this study was to compare polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fingerprinting with other molecular typing methods as an epidemiologic tool to investigate the transmission of Candida strains between HIV‐positive mothers and their children. Forty‐nine yeast strains (including Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Rhodotorula rubra, Candida tropicalis, Candida famata, Candida dubliniensis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae) from 30 individuals (15 children and 15 HIV‐infected mothers or accompanying person) were isolated. Colonization/infection with yeast was observed in 80% of all individuals in the oral cavity, and in 33% from hand cultures, respectively. Thirteen out of 15 children (86%) and 12 out of 15 adults (80%) were colonized/infected with yeasts. Candida dubliniensis strains were found in four HIV‐infected women but not in children. The results with an arbitrarily primed (AP)‐PCR mediated genotyping assay using phage M13 core sequence were compared with the hybridization patterns using the species‐specific DNA probe CARE‐2 for the C. albicans isolates. Typing of non‐C. albicans strains was done using AP‐PCR in comparison with pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Twenty‐six C. albicans strains gave two different genotypes by AP‐PCR but 16 genotypes by CARE‐2 hybridization. The CARE‐2 probe appeared to have a higher discriminatory power compared with the primer ‘M13’‐mediated AP‐PCR in typing C. albicans isolates.