Epidemiology of Invasive Candidiasis and Challenges for the Mycology Laboratory: Specificities of Candida glabrata

Abstract

Candida species are an increasing cause of invasive candidiasis (IC), resulting in significant mortality and morbidity. Although Candida albicans remains the predominant etiologic agent of invasive fungal infections in hospital settings, the incidence of new infections from non-albicans Candida species is steadily increasing, and important geographical differences in species distribution and patterns of in vitro antifungal susceptibilities have been reported. In this article, we review the recent epidemiology of Candida invasive infections, and discuss trends in incidence, mortality, species distribution, and antifungal resistance, emphasizing the particular situation of C. glabrata. We also address the techniques available for diagnosis of IC, the classic culture techniques and the non-culture based methods, including the recent recommendation of the European Fungal Infection Study Group (EFISG) of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) about different techniques and procedures to detect IC, considering specificities with C. glabrata detection.