Abstract
We analyzed the species distribution of Candida blood isolates (CBI), prospectively collected between 2004 and 2009 within FUNGINOS, and compared their antifungal susceptibility according to clinical breakpoints defined by: EUCAST in 2013, CLSI in 2008 (old CLSI breakpoints) and 2012 (new CLSI breakpoints). CBI were tested for susceptiblity to fluconazole, voriconazole and caspofungin by microtitre broth dilution (Sensititre(®) YeastOne(TM) test panel). Of 1090 CBI, 675 (61.9%) were C. albicans, 191 (17.5%) C. glabrata, 64 (5.9%) C. tropicalis, 59 (5.4%) C. parapsilosis, 33 (3%) C. dubliniensis, 22 (2%) C. krusei and 46 (4.2%) rare Candida species. Independently of the breakpoints applied, C. albicans was almost uniformely (>98%) susceptible to all 3 antifungal agents. In contrast, the proportions of fluconazole- and voriconazole- susceptible C. tropicalis and F-susceptible C. parapsilosis were lower according to EUCAST/new CLSI breakpoints than to the old CLSI breakpoints. For caspofungin, non-susceptibility occurred mainly in C. krusei (63.3%) and C. glabrata (9.4%). Nine isolates (5 C. tropicalis, 3 C. albicans, 1 C. parapsilosis) were cross-resistant to azoles according to EUCAST breakpoints compared to 3 isolates (2 C. albicans, 1 C. tropicalis) according to new and 2 (2 C. albicans) to old CLSI breakpoints. Four species (C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis) represented >90% of all CBI. In vitro resistance to fluconazole, voriconazole and caspofungin was rare among C. albicans, but an increase of non-susceptibile isolates was observed among C. tropicalis/C. parapsilosis for the azoles and C. glabrata/C. krusei for caspofungin according to EUCAST and new CLSI breakpoints compared to old CLSI breakpoints. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.