APPLICATION OF BIOTYPING AND DNA TYPING OF CANDIDA-ALBICANS TO THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF RECURRENT VULVO-VAGINAL CANDIDIASIS

One-hundred and five Candida albicans isolates from various anatomic s ites of 28 patients, obtained at the onset of two consecutive episodes of well-documented recurrent vulvovaginitis, were typed by methods re lying on physiologic or genomic markers. The isolates represented a wi de variety of types, and neither a single biotype nor genotype was ass ociated with recurrent vaginitis or a particular body site. Patients g enerally carried similar strains at various anatomic sites that persis ted over time. Genomic methods indicated an 86% rate of relapse, which suggested that most recurrent vaginal infections are of endogenous or igin. A similar evaluation with biotyping methods was inconclusive bec ause of a lack of reproducibility, resulting from clonal variation or switching, and difficulties in establishing the number of phenotypic t ests necessary to distinguish between identical and different strains. Therefore, Southern hybridization was considered the ideal reference method to study the epidemiology of C. albicans infections.