Candida species are very common and so as Candidiasis. In fact there are more than one hundred species of Candida that are present almost everywhere. The most medically significant among the Candida fungi is Candida albicans. This fungus causes most of the infection among human beings.
The Candida fungi are present in the skin of about 80% of all human beings. About 30% to 50% young individuals in good health are said to have the fungi in the oropharynx, part of the pharynx between the soft palate and the epiglottis, while 3 out of 4 women can have vaginal candidiasis.
Infection on the skin is easily treated with antifungal cream or ointments. Most of these topical antifungal drugs can be bought over-the-counter. However, some need to undergo oral medication that is only available with the physician’s prescription.
People with recurrent Candidal infection are usually immunocompromised individuals. These people have weak immune system due to underlying disorders or critical health conditions. Immunodepressed individuals are also prone to severe infection; these people use drugs to control immune response. In these people, the infection becomes systemic, which means that blood is already contaminated by the Candida fungus.
Systemic candidiasis usually affects very vital organs of the body such as the heart, the lungs, the liver and the kidney. Symptoms of this include high fever, urinary tract infection, blood in the urine anemia, difficulty in breathing, blood in the sputum, allergies and septic shock.
There are two types of systemic canidiasis: candidemia, the presence of the fungi in the blood and disseminated candidiasis, the fungal infection of the internal organs.
Candidemia is considered nosocomial infection, which means that it occurs when the patient has already been admitted to a hospital. It occurs within 72-hour period after the patient has been admitted.
Prior to the admission to the hospital, the patient experiences fever that cannot be treated by any antimicrobial drug, skin lesions and occasional septic shock; had organ infections (due to other factors), had used prosthetic valves; and has been catheterized for a long period of time.
Disseminated systemic candidiasis is associated with deep infections of several organs in the body. Although patients with disseminated candidiasis usually have toxic microorganisms in the blood and experience septic shock and fever not responsive to drugs, physicians find it hard to detect disseminated candidiasis. This is because blood tests of 40% to 60% of them reveal that there are no Candida fungi in the blood. The patients are only presumed to have candidiasis based on their history.
Any form of candidiasis becomes detrimental to the patient’s life when it becomes invasive—that is, the Candida fungi infect many tissues and organs in the body. Invasive Candidal infection can result to multiple organ failure and even death.
Patients with Candidemia and Dissimilated Candidiasis are usually given with Fluconazole drug as treatment. This drug can be taken orally, can be administered intravenously or vaginally.
Fluconazole drugs are easier to use and have longer life. They also have lower nephrotoxicity rate (less than two percent). Nephrotoxicity is the toxic effects of the drug to the kidney. However, this kind of drug is also believed to have high hepatotoxicity rates. Hepatotoxicity refers to the drug’s intoxicating effects to the liver.
Aside from antifungal medication, removal of the focus of the Candidal infection is also necessary.
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