Detection of Candida spp. in blood cultures using nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA)

Candida spp. are the main causes of fungal infections in immunocompromised patients. It is known, that the routinely used automated blood culture syst ems may fail to detect yeasts. We therefore investigated, whether Nucleic A cid Sequence-Based Amplification (NASBA) can be used to improve the detecti on rate of Candida spp. in blood cultures. Culture-positive as well as nega tive blood cultures from patients with a proven candidaemia were analyzed, and the results of BacT/Alert monitoring were compared with the results of NASBA-based detection of yeast RNA. With the NASBA-assay, the number of pos itive blood cultures increased from 21% to 34%. The NASBA-assay may confirm the diagnosis and demonstrate the need for prolonged treatment. In additio n it may shorten the time to detection. In summary, using NASBA for the det ection of yeast RNA in blood cultures, we have shown for the first time tha t it is possible to improve the detection rate of yeasts in blood cultures by using amplification technology. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All right s reserved.