Evaluating the Prevalence of Candida Species in the Oral Cavity of Immunocompromised Patients

Candida species are normal commensal of the oral microbial flora and get established there during or soon after birth. Lesions of thrush are seen in children and adults of all ages whenever the number of candida in the oral cavity increases significantly . During the past two decades, there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of fungal infections caused by Candida species. The yeast candida being the main cause of candidiasis is commonly isolated pathogen from immunocompromised patients. The trend in the resistance acquired by some species of candida leads to the importance of identification to the species level in immunocompromised patients. In present study we have selected 50 subjects (male and female) who are HIV positive(10),diabetes mellitus(10),vitamin deficiencies(10),radiotherapy patients(10) and the patients on broad spectrum antibiotics(10). Oral samples were collected with the help of sterile cotton swabs, and inoculated on sabouraud`s dextrose agar (SDA) for isolation. After appearance of the colonies on SDA, individual colony is tested for identification of different species of candida on the basis of biochemical and assimilation test. The prevalence of oral candidosis and frequency of isolation of Candida species and its distribution were determine statistically by using x2 test ,it is found that difference is not statistical significant between Candida albicans and Candida non albicans among the sex, it can be present in target population.