Background: Candida albicans is the predominant isolate in many neonatal fungal bloodstream infections (BSIs), so fluconazole is used as empiric antifungal therapy.
Aim: To determine the predominant organisms, antifungal sensitivity patterns, clinical and demographic risk factors and crude mortality rate in neonatal fungal BSI cases.
Subjects and methods: This is a review of all neonatal fungal BSI cases between January 2007 and December 2011.
Results: Fifty-nine patients were included in the study. Candida parapsilosis (54.2%) was isolated in majority of the cases, followed by C. albicans (27.1%). Fluconazole resistance was present in 16 of 32 cases of C. parapsilosis versus 1 of 16 cases of C. albicans (P = 0.003). Mortality rate was 45.8%. Surgical problems were present in 55.9%. Death was significantly associated with lower birth weight (P = 0.046) and necrotizing enterocolitis (P = 0.034).
Conclusions: The increase in neonatal fungal BSI and resistant organisms highlights the need to review use of routine empiric fluconazole and to implement preventive measures.
Keywords: Candida; fungal bloodstream infections; fungal sepsis; neonates.