Objective: Our study aimed to retrospectively examine the species distributions and antifungal susceptibilities of Candida strains isolated from blood cultures.

Material and Method: Blood samples received at Malatya Turgut Ozal University Medical ffaculty Training and Research Hospital Microbiology Laboratory between January 2015 and December 2022 were loaded into BACTEC (BectonDickinson, USA) and RENDER BC (Zhuhai, China) automated blood culture devices. The identification and antifungal susceptibilities of 292 Candida strains isolated from growing plates were studied with the VITEK 2 Compact® (bioMeriéux, ffrance) automated system. Antifungal susceptibility results were interpreted in accordance with Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommendations.

Results: Among a total of 292 Candida strains, Candida albicans (C. albicans) was isolated most frequently (42.5%), followed by C. parapsilosis (21.1%). 58.6% of the strains belonged to male patients and 41.4% belonged to female patients. 85.6% of the samples came from intensive care clinics and 14.4% from other clinics. C. albicans was most frequently isolated from intensive care clinics (39.0%), and C. parapsilosis was most frequently isolated from other clinics (4.5%). The highest antifungal resistance was detected in fluconazole (9.3%) and voriconazole (5.7%), while the lowest resistance was found in micafungin (2.5%). At the species level, fluconazole resistance was found high in C. albicans (4.8%) and C. parapsilosis (11.3%), and caspofungin resistance was found high in C. glabrata (13.1%).

Conclusion: We believe that the regional species distribution and resistance profile information obtained in our study will be guiding in the regulation of treatment procedures.

Candida species; blood culture; antifungal sensitivity