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Candida spp. in vitro susceptibility profile to four antifungal agents. Resistance surveillance study in Venezuelan strains.

The aim of this study was to determine in vitro susceptibility profiles of Venezuelan strains of Candida spp. to four antifungal agents. One hundred and forty five (145) isolates were recovered during a 1-year period (June 2006 to June 2007) from clinical specimens of patients with severe Candida spp. infections in 15 hospitals. In vitro susceptibilities to amphotericin B, fluconazole, itraconazole and voriconazole were determined by modified Etest. Non Candida albicans Candida spp. were the most frequently isolated yeasts (72.4%) in comparison with C. albicans (27.6%). Candida spp. strains showed MIC ranges between <0.002 and 0.5 mug/ml to amphotericin B. While none were found to be resistant to voriconazole, 5.5% and 27.6% of the test strains were resistant to fluconazole and itraconazole, respectively. C. albicans remains the most susceptible of the yeasts studied to fluconazole and itraconazole (P<0.05) when compared with non C. albicans Candida spp. C. krusei showed the greater cross-resistance to azoles, followed by C. glabrata, C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis, while C. albicans isolates did not demonstrate this characteristic. It is very important to carry out the correct species identification of clinical yeast isolates because they show up variations in both distribution and susceptibility profiles according to the hospital, patient's underlying disease, clinical specimen analyzed, and the geographical region in which the studies were conducted. The Mycology Department of the INHRR is the national reference center responsible for antifungal resistance surveillance, performing the susceptibility tests with isolates recovered from hospitalized patients in public health centres which do not have mycological diagnosis laboratories.