[Antibody base titer against the yeast fungus of the Candida family in childhood].

Because of the omnipresence of yeasts belonging to the species Candida it is not easy to distinguish between contamination and infection in patients (e.g. swabs from skin or mucous membranes). Antibody detection may be helpful for the diagnosis of severe Candida infection. However, during early infancy most children produce Candida antibodies without the signs of infection. Those basic antibody titers have to be considered when antibody determination becomes necessary to prove acute systemic Candida infection. Lowest titers against Candida were detected in the first year of life based on the decrease of the maternally transmitted antibodies. However, Candida colonization rates are most frequently detectable in this period. At the age of 10 years the antibody titers of adults are reached. The determination of one single titer does not justify any conclusion of Candida infection because the antibody basic titers are widely scattered. Systemic Candida infections still remain a more or less clinical diagnosis which can only be confirmed by the antibody titer dynamics.