Invasive candidiasis

Invasive candidiasis is an infection (candidiasis) that can be caused by various species of Candida yeast. Unlike Candida infections of the mouth and throat (oral candidiasis) or vagina (Candidal vulvovaginitis), invasive candidiasis is a serious, progressive, and potentially fatal infection that can affect the blood (fungemia), heart, brain, eyes, bones, and other parts of the body. Symptoms of invasive candidiasis can be confused with other medical conditions, however, the most common symptoms are fever and chills that do not improve with antibiotic treatment. Other symptoms develop as the infection spreads, depending on which parts of the body are involved. Invasive candidiasis can manifest as serious diseases including as fungemia, endocarditis, endophthalmitis, osteomyelitis, and central nervous system infections. Invasive candidiasis is caused by 15 of the more than 150 known species of Candida. These species, all confirmed by isolation from patients, are: C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, C. krusei, C. guilliermondii, C. lusitaniae, C. dubliniensis, C. pelliculosa, C. kefyr, C. lipolytica, C. famata, C. inconspicua, C. rugosa, and C. norvegensis. Over the last 20–30 years, C. albicans has been responsible for 95% of infections, with, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, and C. krusei causing the majority of the remaining cases. Recently, C. auris, a species first reported in 2009, has been found to cause invasive candidiasis. C. auris has attracted attention because it can be resistant to the antifungal medications used to treat candidiasis. Resistance to antifungal treatment can arise from species with intrinsic resistance that experience selection pressure or spontaneous induction of resistance in isolates from normally susceptible species. For Candida, the most common is the former, as seen by the emergence of resistant C. glabrata following the introduction of fluconazole and of C. parapsilosis where there was increased use of echinocandins.