Abstract
Abstract Introduction: Candidiasis is more frequent in human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV)-infected patients and knowledge about the distribution and antifungal susceptibility of oral Candida species is important for effective management of candidiasis. Material and Methods: An oral rinses sample collected from hundred HIV-infected patients with and without clinical evidence of oral candidiasis in this study at the Infectious Department/Tripoli Medical Center, Libya. Species identifi ed by standard phenotypic and conventional methods and in vitro susceptibility testing of the yeast isolates to antifungals were performed using the Disc diffusion method protocol as recommended by the Clinical Laboratory Scientifi c Institute. Results: Oral Candida colonization is detected in all patients with and without clinical syndromes, and Candida albicans were accounted for (74%), C. dubliniensis (11%) and C. glabrata (6%). A high proportion of Candida species (42%) showed decreased susceptibility to fl uconazole. Among C., albicans more than 30% of isolate were resistant to most new azole antifungal including fl uconazole, itraconazole, posoconazole and voriconazole. Conclusions: A signifi cant number of oral Candida species particular Candida albicans exhibiting decreased susceptibility to fl uconazole were isolated from colonized HIV-infected individual, given the high incidence and severity of fungal infections in HIV-infected individuals. The results of this study reinforce the importance of antifungal susceptibility testing, which contributes to the therapeutic strategies and highlights the need for continuous surveillance of Candida colonization in this population