UTILITY OF CHROM AGAR FOR DIFFERENTIATION OF CANDIDA SPECIES AND DETECTION OF ANTIFUNGAL SUSCEPTIBILITY BY MACROBROTH DILUTION METHOD

Various clinical samples were inoculated on Sabouraud's dextrose agar (SDA), Blood agar (BA) and Mac Conkey’s agar (MA) and were also inoculated on HiCrome Candida Differential Agar (CHROM agar) to improvise species identification. Isolates were further characterized by performing conventional tests. Antifungal susceptibility test was done for fluconazole and itraconazole in this study. The MIC breakpoints of fluconazole and itraconazole were prepared using CLSI Guidelines for antifungal susceptibility testing. We used a modification of solid agar antifungal susceptibility (SAAS) method used in different laboratories. Candida albicans was the commonest species isolated, followed by C. dubliniensis, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis and C. krusei. All the isolates were susceptible to fluconazole and itraconazole with an MIC range of 16-64 μg/ml and 0.5-1 μg/ml, respectively. CHROM agar is a very useful medium for the speciation of Candida isolates. Even though our hospital is a tertiary care centre, none of the Candida isolates showed the resistance pattern to fluconazole and itraconazole. Hence clinicians can use azole antifungals to treat the patients with candidiasis in our hospital setting.