Background and purpose: Infections by emerging and multiresistant Candida species are becoming more frequent throughout the world. This study aimed to describe Candida species in different wards of a tertiary hospital in Honduras.
Materials and methods: The prevalence of species within the C. albicans complex was estimated using a molecular approach, and C. auris was investigated using a yeast pool-based DNA extraction method. In total, 328 yeast isolates were identified using phenotypic approaches. For the identification of species within the C. albicans complex, a molecular approach based on the size polymorphisms of the hpw1 gene was used. In addition, a technique was optimized based on DNA extraction in pools for the rapid identification of C. auris.
Results: A total of 11 species of Candida were identified in the hospital wards. C. albicans showed the highest number of isolates (52.4%). Within the C. albicans complex, C. albicans sensu stricto was the most common, followed by C. dubliniensis. However, C. auris was not found.
Conclusion: Reports on the distribution of Candida species in Honduras are limited; accordingly, the data from this study are of importance for a better understanding of their epidemiology. Moreover, a simple method was offered for the detection of C. auris that could help in its detection in low-resource settings.
Keywords: Cryptic species; hwp1 gene; Candida albicans complex; gpi gene.
Copyright: © 2021, Published by Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences on behalf of Iranian Society of Medical Mycology and Invasive Fungi Research Center.