Incidence and risk factors for COVID‐19 associated candidemia (CAC) in ICU patients

Background Critically ill COVID‐19 patients have a high risk for the development of candidemia due to being exposed to both well‐defined classical risk factors and COVID‐19‐specific risk factors in ICU. Objectives In this study, we investigated the incidence of candidemia in critically COVID‐19 patients, and the independent risk factors for candidemia. Patients/methods COVID‐19 patients hospitalised in ICU during 1‐year period (August 2020 to August 2021) were included. Clinical and laboratory characteristics of all COVID‐19 patients, applied treatments, and invasive procedures that may predispose to candidemia were recorded. Results Of 1229 COVID‐19 patients, 63 developed candidemia. Candidemia incidence rate was 4.4 episodes per 1000 ICU days. The most common species was Candida albicans (52.3%). Only 37 patients (58.7%) received antifungal therapy. The presence of central venous catheter (OR 4.7, 95% CI 1.8–12.2, p