Sentinel surveillance of invasive candidiasis in Spain: epidemiology and antifungal susceptibility

In order to know the epidemiology and the changes of antifungal resistance in invasive candidiasis (IC) we carried out this prospective study of Candida strains belonging to patients admitted to 26 Spanish hospitals from June 2011 to June 2012 diagnosed with IC. Clinical information and the identity of the Candida species were collected and antifungal susceptibility was tested using broth microdilution in five agents: amphotericin B, fluconazole, voriconazole, caspofungin and anidulafungin. A total of 705 cases-isolates were documented. Most of the patients suffered from candidemia and several underlying diseases and more than half of them were neutropenic or under immunosuppressive therapy, factors associated with higher mortality. Thirty percent of global mortality was documented. C. albicans was the most frequently isolated species, although an increase of non-C. albicans species was observed. Resistance to fluconazole was of 3.4%, lower than in previous years (6.3%). C. parapsilosis presented a higher MIC90 of echinocandins compared to other species.