Emergence of multidrug-resistant and opportunistic fungal infections due to in intensive care units.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

An increasing number of invasive infections due to multidrug-resistant species have been reported worldwide. Among these species, has attracted more attention in recent years due to major outbreaks in healthcare facilities globally and is considered an emerging pathogen. This study was planned to observe the occurrence of infections in a tertiary care hospital in India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The clinical specimens were inoculated on Sabouraud dextrose agar along with other conventional culture media for aerobic culture based on specimen type. The blood culture was performed by BacT/ALERT 3D automated blood culture system. After preliminary identification, the species-level identification of was performed by the VITEK-2 compact automated system from bioMerieux, France.

RESULTS

Out of a total of 497 isolates, 21.33% were , while 78.67% were non- species. comprised 3.22% of all isolates. Among various risk factors, intensive care unit stay was the most common risk factor associated with infection. The antifungal susceptibility data highlighted the resistance of against most of the antifungals except echinocandins.

CONCLUSION

Infections due to are emerging in hospital environments, especially among individuals having various risk factors. The resistant nature of further complicates the situation leading to frequent antifungal treatment failure.