Evaluation of six commercial tests and the germ-tube test for presumptive identification of Candida albicans.

Six commercial tests (Albicans ID, bioMérieux, France; CandiSelect, Sanofi Diagnostics Pasteur, France; CHROMagar Candida, Becton Dickinson, USA; Fluoroplate Candida, Merck, Germany; Fongiscreen 4H, Sanofi Diagnostics Pasteur; and Murex Candida albicans, Murex Diagnostics, USA) and the germ-tube test for presumptive identification of Candida albicans were evaluated using clinical isolates of Candida albicans (n = 350) and of non-albicans yeasts (n = 135). Sensitivities and specificities of all tests regarding the identification of Candida albicans were greater than 97%. The two tests that also allow presumptive identification of some non-albicans yeasts (CHROMagar Candida and Fongiscreen 4H) did not identify all isolates of Candida glabrata and Candida tropicalis. In addition, CHROMagar Candida identified as Candida glabrata some isolates belonging to different species of non-albicans yeasts.