TITLE:
Characterization of Candida Species Isolated from Cases of Lower Respiratory Tract Infection among HIV/AIDS Patients in Calabar, Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Ofonime Mark Ogba, Lydia Nyong Abia-Bassey, James Epoke, Baki Idasa Mandor, Godwin Dickson Iwatt
KEYWORDS:
Candida Infections; Pulmonary; HIV/AIDS; Characterization
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of AIDS,
Vol.3 No.3,
September
5,
2013
ABSTRACT: This study was designed to identify and characterize the Candida species isolated from lower
respiratory tract infections among HIV positive patients and to determine the
prevalence rates of Candida infections among these subjects. Two early
morning expectorate sputum
samples were collected from 272 HIV positive subjects visiting the ART clinics
and DOTS centre with cases of lower respiratory tract infection, over a period
of 14 months from May 2009 to July 2010 in
Calabar. Subjects were recruited for this study upon approval by the Ethical
Research Committee of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital and obtaining
written informed consent from the patients. Samples were processed by standard
methods for isolation of Candida.
Speciation was done by a germ tube test, chlamydospore production on corn meal agar and sugar
fermentation and assimilation tests using the Microexpress Candida
identification kit (Tulip, India). Out of the 544 sputum samples collected from
272 subjects, Candida species were
isolated from 40 (14.7%) and identified after confirming the growth in the second
sample. The majority of Candida species among the Candida isolates
were Candida albicans (80%) followed by Candida tropicalis 5 (12.5%), Candida dubliniensis 2 (5.0%) and Candida guilliermondii 1 (2.5%). The isolation rate of Candida species from sputum samples was
found to be highest among subjects aged 25 - 34 years, followed by those aged 15 - 24 years. Twenty (7.3%) HIV seropositive
subjects had bacterial infections, while 4 (1.5%) subjects had mixed fungal and
bacterial infections. This study is the first of its kind to be carried out in
Calabar and the South-South geopolitical region of Nigeria, and has shown that
pulmonary candidiasis is a health problem among HIV positive patients in
Calabar.