The substantial increase in the rate of azole resistant Candida spp. yeast infections has become a serious treatment problem requiring new and more active antifungal agents. In this study, the in vitro activities of ravuconazole and albaconazole were compared with those of amphotericin B, flucytosine, itraconazole and fluconazole against 162 Brazilian isolates of Candida spp. from which 48 isolates had previously shown lower susceptibility or resistance to fluconazole. Ravuconazole susceptibility ranged from 84.6% (Candida albicans) to 100% for other species and albaconazole MIC(90) was < or =1.0 microg ml(-1) for all the species emphasising the potent activity of these triazoles. To our knowledge this is the first study evaluating the susceptibility of C. dubliniensis to albaconazole.