Candidemia due to Candida guilliermondii in an immunocompromised infant: a case report and review of literature

Authors

1 Student Research Committee, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

2 Department of Medical Mycology, Invasive Fungi Research Center, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

3 Pediatric Infectious Diseases Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

4 Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

5 Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran

6 Thalassemia Research Center, Hemoglobinopathy Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Candidemia is a life-threatening fungal infection with significant mortality and morbidity in neutropenic individuals, immunosuppressive chemotherapy recipients, and broad-spectrum antibiotics consumers. The epidemiology and antifungal susceptibility testing of non-albicans Candida species have been poorly studied. These species are characterized by low susceptibility to azoles and echinocandins. Herein, we report the first pediatric case of candidemia due to C. guilliermondii in Iran and review the literature on fungemia caused by C. guilliermondii.

Case report: We presented the first candidemia case due to Candida guilliermondii in a 4-month-old male infant with neuroblastoma in Iran. This study also involves a comprehensive literature review on fungemia caused by C. guilliermondii during a period of 18 years (i.e., 2000-2018) to discuss the epidemiology, clinical features, and treatment of this disease. The literature review resulted in the identification of 501 cases of candidemia caused by C. guilliermondii. Most of the patients were adults and had multiple risk factors. However, the main risk factors were significantly related to cancer chemotherapy, followed by central venous catheter use and Intensive Care Unit admission. Mortality rate due to this disease had a range of 3.4-66.6%; in this regard, the patients with cancer had the highest mortality rate.

Conclusion: Given the high mortality of candidemia, the early diagnosis of this infection and timely initiation of antifungal therapy significantly improve the patients’ survival rate and result in better outcomes. Consequently, it is highly recommended to monitor the local epidemiology of this life-threatening infection and raise awareness in this regard.

Keywords

Current Medical Mycology
Volume 5, Issue 1
March 2019
Pages 32-36

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History

  • Receive Date: 09 July 2019
  • Revise Date: 28 September 2020
  • Accept Date: 09 July 2019
  • Publish Date: 01 March 2019

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