Over a period of four years, 1647 suspected septicemic neonates were subjected for micro-biological analysis; cultures were positive in 781 (89.1%) cases for aerobic bacteria and 96 (10.9%) for Candida species. Among Candida species, Candida tropicalis 39 (40.6%) was the predominant organism followed by Candida albicans 22 (22.4%), Candida gullermondii 17 (17.7%), Candida drusei 14 (14.5%) and Candida parapsilosis 04 (4.0%).

Candidemia in neonates is most commonly due to Candida albicans, but our study demonstrated that only 22.4% of isolates were Candida albicans. Our finding agrees with previous study(1), that candidemia is mainly by non-albicans candida rather than Candida albicans.

The study emphasizes the changing pattern of Candida species and their importance in blood stream infection in neonates.

C.S. Vinod Kumar,
Y.F. Neelagund,
Department of P.G. Studies and Research in Microbiology,
Gulbarga University , Gulbarga,
Karnataka, India.
E-mail: [email protected]

1. Prasad KN, Agarwal T, Dixit AK. Role of yeast as nosocomial pathogens and their susceptibility to fluconazole and amphotericin B. Indian J Med Res 1999; 110: 11-17.