ABSTRACT

Candidemia is the most common type of invasive fungal infections. It is essential to initiate early and appropriate treatment. In this study, we aimed to compare the potential risk factors of candidemia and aerobic bacteremia.

In this study, 21 patients with candidemia and 101 patients with bacteremia were retrospectively compared with 1567 patients who were admitted to a tertiary intensive care unit between January 2011 and January 2014. Potential risk factors for the patients were evaluated statistically.

The rate and incidence density of candidemia were, respectively, 1.34% and 1.62, whereas those for bacteremia were 9.38% and 11.37, respectively. According to our results, having a previous gastrointestinal system (GIS) surgery, solid organ tumor (p=0.0001), hemodialysis catheter (p=0.001), continuous hemodiafiltration (p=0.005), bogota bag (p=0.009), colostomy (p=0.033), abdominal drain (p=0.001), need for blood transfusion (p=0.025), and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) (p=0.0001) were found to be associated risk factors for candidemia in comparison with bacteremia.

Patients who have blood stream infections have higher risk for morbidity and mortality in intensive care units. According to the results of our study, previous GIS surgery, having a surgical implement, solid organ tumor, end-stage renal disease, need for blood transfusion, and TPN were found to be risk factors of candidemia.

Keywords: Candidemia, bacteremia, intensive care unit