Background: Candidemia disease in Chile is not very known, despite being a very common and serious disease.
Aim: To analyze incidence and susceptibility profile of species from the genus Candida in Hospital Base Valdivia.
Material and methods: All candidemia cases presented between March 2009 and August 2011 in our institution were identified. Species distribution and susceptibility were studied through the disk diffusion method.
Results: Twenty-seven candidemia episodes were studied. Incidence varied from 0.3 to 0.7 by a thousand discharges (according to clinical service). Risk factors were hospitalization, preliminary use of antibiotics, aged people and underlying disease (renal failure, heart and lung disease). The most frequent species was C. albicans, followed by C. tropicalis, C. glabrata and C. krusei. Voriconazole was the antifungal showing the best in vitro performance. Amphotericin B, fluconazole and itraconazole presented variable results.
Discussion: Incidence found was superior to that described in developed countries. Candida albicans constitute the most frequent species, with high sensitivity levels to fluconazole; Candida no albicans species must be monitored. Developing new research on the topic appears as fundamental to detect potential epidemiological variations.