Epidemiologial profile of invasive candidiasis in intensive care units at a university hospital

Invasive candidiasis (IC) epidemiology has changed in critically ill patients and limited data are available in Chile. To describe the epidemiological and microbiological profile of IC in critically ill patients. Observational prospective study conducted from October 2001 to August 2003 in critically ill adults with suspected or confirmed IC. 53 patients met criteria for IC, finding 18 (33.9%) candidemias, 22 (41.5%) disseminated IC, and 13 (24.5%) local IC. We identified 8 (44.4%) C. albicans and 10 (55.6%) non-albicans Candida in candidemias. C. tropicalis was the predominant non-albicans species (27.7%). An 88.8 % of Candidas sp recovered in candidemias were fluconazole susceptible. Overall hospital mortality was 24.5%. Mortality in candidemia was significantly lower than in disseminated IC (16.6 vs 31.8%, p = 0.02). A higher proportion of non-albicans Candida was observed in candidemias from critically ill patients. However, most of these strains were fluconazole susceptible. A lower overall mortality was observed in candidemias.