Candida Epidemiology: Non-albicans Infections Are On the Rise

Segment Description: Emily Ricotta, PhD, ScM, a research analyst in the epidemiology unit of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of the National Institutes of Health, highlights the increase in non-albicans candidiasis which tend to be more antibiotic resistant, in both bloodstream and sterile-site infections.

Interview Transcript (modified slightly for readability):

Emily Ricotta PhD, ScM: Candida epidemiology historically in the United States has primarily been due to Candida albicans. So, most of the bloodstream infections from Candida that we see are due to Candida albicans.

We get this data from a number of national surveillance sites that we have the, [US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] CDC's Emerging Infections Program, we have the National Health Safety Network, and some antimicrobial resistance surveillance programs. And they've been seeing an overall decrease in the incidence of candidiasis in the United States, which in our study we have seen to be mostly related to a decrease in Candida albicans bloodstream infections. With that, we are seeing an increase in non-albicans candidiasis both bloodstream and sterile-site infections and that's a problem because those non-albicans isolates tend to be more antibiotic resistant whereas the albicans infections tend to be more susceptible.

We saw that it really depends on the body source that you're looking at it differs in species distribution, so we see primarily more non-albicans infections are found in bloodstream and more albicans infections are being seen in non-bloodstream sterile-site infections. So, it's very important to look and determine what site your isolate is from because that can give you an indication of what pathogen specifically you'll have, and which can then give you an idea of the susceptibility profile that you'll probably see.