Azole resistance among oral Candida species isolates from AIDS patients under ketoconazole exposure

This is a prospective study designed to investigate species distribution an d azole susceptibility profile among Candida spp. isolated from the oral ca vities of AIDS patients. One hundred thirty-two AIDS patients sequentially admitted at a teaching tertiary care hospital were enrolled in this study. Samples were obtained by swabbing the oral cavities of the patients. Yeast isolates were identified by classical methods and the antifungal susceptibi lity profile was further determined according to the NCCLS microbroth assay . Among all patients with prescriptions of systemic antifungal drugs, ketoc onazole had been elected to treat 56% of patients. We found 82% of oral yea st carriage, 22% of them harboring non-albicans species. Overall rates of s usceptibility dose dependent/resistance to azoles was 16% for itraconazole, 13% for ketoconazole, and 10% for fluconazole with a high agreement rate a mong the susceptibility profiles of all isolates tested against the triazol es. (C) 1998 Elsevier, Science Inc.