EVALUATION OF 2 COMMERCIALIZED SYSTEMS FOR THE RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF MEDICALLY IMPORTANT YEASTS

A total of 77 recent clinical isolates of Candida albicans and other m edically important yeasts were identified by two different commercial tests, Rapidec albicans (API-bioMerieux) and Fongiscreen 4H (Sanofi Di agnostics Pasteur), and conventional mycological methods. The strains were from 13 different species of yeasts and consisted of strains of 3 6 C. albicans, three of Candida famata, nine of Candida (Torulopsis) g labrata, five of Candida guilliermondii, two of Candida kefyr, three o f Candida krusei, one of Candida lusitaniae, four of Cryptococcus neof ormans, five of Candida parapsilosis, six of Candida tropicalis, one o f Candida viswanathii, one of Rhodotorula rubra and one of Saccharomyc es cerevisiae. According to the reactivity profiles of the isolates, i dentification was always correct with Fongiscreen 4H and was correct i n 97.3% of the strains with Rapidec albicans. The latter test did not identify two C. albicans isolates that were correctly identified by Fo ngiscreen 4H. Both methods (97.3% correlation) were very useful for id entification of C. albicans achieving the aim of their manufacturers. Additionally, Fongiscreen 4H was very useful for the identification of three other species of yeasts: C. glabrata, C. tropicalis and Cr. neo formans. The results of our study indicate that the accuracy of Rapide c albicans and Fongiscreen 4H is similar to that of the conventional m ethods used in this study for the identification of C. albicans. The s ame is true of Fongiscreen 4H in the identification of C. glabrata, C. tropicalis and Cr. neoformans. Both tests could be rapid and easy-to- perform tools in the clinical microbiology laboratory, but differences in cost must be taken into account.