Emergence of Candida tropicalis as the major cause of fungaemia in India.

The fungal isolates (n = 191) from 1970 consecutive blood cultures over a 9-year period were identified. Candida tropicalis was the predominant isolate accounting for 66% of all isolates whereas Candida albicans ranked only a distant second with 21%. The difference was highly significant (P < 0.00001) The other isolates included C. parapsilosis (5.8%), C. glabrata (2.1%), C. pelliculosa (1.2%), C. lipolytica (1.0%) C. krusei (1.0%) and Trichosporon beigelii (2.6%). The isolates were obtained predominantly from postoperative patients on therapy with more than one antibiotic.