Assessment of CHROMagar CandidaTM to identificate yeasts of medical interest
Abstract
The incidence of micosis especially systemic candidiasis has increased in the last years. The most frequent species is Candida albicans; that has been replaced (35%) by other "no albicans" species.
Cryptococcosis is the second most frequent systemic micosis.
The specific identification of these yeasts is a crucial step to determine an appropriate treatment. Chromogenic medium allows easily and rapidly selective identification of yeasts by differential localization of colony pigmentation; CHROMagar Candida is one of the most widespread in our country.
The objectives of the study were to determine the diagnostic value of CHROMagar Candida (sensitivity, specificity and predictive value) compared to conventional culture methods and their reliability.
We studied 127 strains of Candida spp., 23 Cryptococcus neoformans, 8 Rhodotorula spp. and 6 Trichosporon spp. EPIDAT program was used for statistical analysis.
Results showed good rates in identificating C. albicans. For "no albicans" species, this medium definitively lost diagnostic specificity, particularly in C. krusei false positive testing.
Chromogenic medium is reliable to identificate C. albicans, but complementary tests and morphologic studies are needed to selective identification of "non albicans" Candida and other strains considering their therapeutic implications.
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