Candida Glabrata: An emerging threat for the Immunocompromised

Background: Fungal infections cause a significant amount of morbidity and mortality among immuno compromised population. Various fungal agents are responsible but candida are one the most frequently isolated ones. Recently, a redistribution of candida species has been observed that has highlighted a non Candida albicans species i.e. Candida glabrata. High frequency of Candida glabrata exhibits high resistance rates and it has emerged as a difficult to treat pathogen. The objective of this study was to identify the various strains of fungi and their sensitivity in immuno compromised patients.Material Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in which immunocompromised patients were screened for fungal infections on the basis of conventional and API 20-C methods. In this study 165 cases were inducted that included cases on dialysis, chemotherapy for malignancies, those with transplant and receiving immunosuppressive therapy and were positive for fungal infections.Results: Candida glabrata was isolated from 39(23.6%) cases and of these isolates, 13% were resistant to fluconazole.Conclusion: Apart from Candida albicans, Candida glabrata is another difficult to treat fungal agent in immunocompromised patients