A STUDY OF CANDIDA SPECIES BLOODSTREAM INFECTIONS IN NEONATES IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

S. SATIJA¹, S. JAIN², D.K. BHAGWANI³, M. SHARM⁴*, N. SHREE⁵, M. KUMAR^6
1Departmant of Microbiology, Hindu Rao Hospital, Delhi, India
²Departmant of Microbiology, Hindu Rao Hospital, Delhi, India
³Departmant of Paediatrics, Hindu Rao Hospital, Delhi, India
⁴Departmant of Microbiology, Hindu Rao Hospital, Delhi, India
⁵Departmant of Microbiology, Hindu Rao Hospital, Delhi, India
⁶Departmant of Microbiology, Hindu Rao Hospital, Delhi, India
* Corresponding Author : sharmadrmukesh@gmail.com

Received : 07-09-2016     Accepted : 24-09-2016     Published : 28-09-2016
Volume : 8     Issue : 10       Pages : 791 - 793
Int J Microbiol Res 8.10 (2016):791-793

Keywords : Candida albicans, Non-albicans candida, Health Care Workers, Candidemia, Bloodstream Infection
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : None declared
Author Contribution : None declared

Background: Fungemia due to Candida species is reported commonly and is an increasing problem especially in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). A significant increase in the number of cases of candidemia was observed from November 2015 to January 2016 in NICU of our tertiary care hospital in North Delhi. The species of Candida isolated from these cases were diverse and included C. tropicalis, C. krusei and C. parapsilosis. Methods: To investigate this increase in the cases of Non albicans Candida bloodstream infections, a microbiological study, a case control study and revision of infection control practices was performed. There were total of 8 cases of Candidemia at the time of investigation. The samples for surveillance culture were obtained from various environmental surfaces, from hands of health care workers (HCWs) and from skin and cannulas of the cases. Results: Some factors like Preterm deliveries, low birth weight (LBW), parenteral nutrition, presence of central venous catheters and premature rupture of membrane at the time of delivery, were more commonly seen in cases when compared to controls. The surveillance samples on microbiological culture did not yield any Candida isolate. Some lapses in Infection control practices were observed and with the strict enforcement of infection control measures, the progress of this increase in the number of cases of Cndidemia could be halted. Conclusion: it was therefore concluded that Candidemia was associated with previously described risk factors and that it is the interplay of host, environment and pathogen which contributed to increase in the number of cases of Candidemia in our hospital.