Abstract
It is still controversial as to whether Candida spp. are transient or persistent colonizers of the respiratory tract of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. We conducted a prospective study of 56 CF patients over a 30 month period to assess the distribution and persistence of different Candida spp. In vitro antifungal susceptibility testing was performed and the C. albicans isolates were typed with CARE-2 hybridization and other Candida spp. by RAPD-PCR for persistence and transmission. We found that the mean persistence of the most frequent Candida spp. was ≥ 9 months. In patients from whom more than 10 isolates were recovered, we noted that at least 30% were genetically related and transmission of C. albicans in siblings was observed. The majority of all isolates were susceptible to all antifungals tested. We concluded that there was long-term persistence of Candida in the respiratory tract of CF patients and that transmission between siblings may be one possible means of acquisition. Whether long-term colonization with Candida strains can contribute to the chronic infection and inflammation in the CF lung requires further investigation.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Institut für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie Würzburg for the yeast identification and the Institut für Molekulare Infektionsbiologie Würzburg for technical support. This work is part of the MD thesis of Michaela Muthig. We are grateful to Jill Holbrook for critically reviewing the manuscript for English syntax and grammar.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
This paper was first published online on Early Online on 31 January 2009.