Original Research Article
Year: 2019 | Month: August | Volume: 9 | Issue: 8 | Pages: 78-81
Utility of HiCrome Candida Differential Agar to Speciate Clinical Candida Isolates
Vijay C. Ambade1, Dipak C. Thamke2, Vijayshri S. Deotale3
1Department of Microbiology, B.R.L.A.B.V.M. G.M.C. Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, India
2,3Department of Microbiology, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram, Maharashtra, India
Corresponding Author: Vijay C. Ambade
ABSTRACT
As the epidemiological distribution of Candida species changed in recent years and also to decide proper antifungal agents, the rapid and reliable identification of Candida species is essential. The conventional methods are labour intensive and take longer time to identify the Candida species and to judge proper antifungal agent. The automated systems proved to be considerably expensive. Many workers in their studies have been shown that chromogenic agars can identify Candida clearly to species level based upon the characteristic coloured colonies. The present study is carried out to prove the utility of HiCrome Candida differential agar in identification of Candida species. A total of 127 Candida strains, including 77 C. albicans, 23 C. tropicalis, 18 C. parapsilosis and 9 C. krusei identified by standard techniques were subcultured on HiCrome Candida differential agar and then incubated at 370 c for 48 hours to study their characteristics. The HiCrome Candida differential agar showed the sensitivity and specificity of 97.40 % and 100 % for C. albicans, 100 % each for C. tropicalis and C. krusei while in case of C. parapsilosis it was 88.88%, 100 % respectively. The HiCrome Candida Differential Agar though easy and reliable method, it should be used with caution when colony colour differs from the standard colour as per the manufacturer’s manual.
Key words: Utility, HiCrome Candida Differential Agar, Candida species.