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. 2025 Jun 19;12(7):ofaf359.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaf359. eCollection 2025 Jul.

Trends in Candidemia Over the Last 14 Years: A Comparative Analysis of Candida parapsilosis and Candida albicans

Ana Soriano-Martín  1   2   3 , Pilar Escribano  1   2 , Marina Machado  1   2   4 , Jesús Guinea  1   2 , Elena Reigadas  1   2   5 , Paloma García-Clemente  1   2 , Emilio Bouza  1   2   3   5 , Patricia Muñoz  1   2   3   5
Affiliations

Trends in Candidemia Over the Last 14 Years: A Comparative Analysis of Candida parapsilosis and Candida albicans

Ana Soriano-Martín et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Data on the trends of the incidence of candidemia caused by C. albicans and C. parapsilosis in recent years are very limited. At the same time, factors that predispose to candidemia, caused by both species and the epidemiology of hospital transmission, are not well known. Our study analyzed 14 years of candidemia in a single institution in order to compare the incidence, clinical outcomes, and transmission patterns of both species.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study (2010-2023) in a 1236-bed tertiary hospital. We included all episodes of candidemia due to C. albicans and C. parapsilosis and collected the epidemiological, clinical, and microbiological characteristics of the patients. Incidence trends were calculated per hospital admission and population. Antifungal susceptibility testing followed European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing guidelines, and genotyping used species-specific microsatellites.

Results: Among 576 episodes of candidemia, 269 (46.7%) were caused by C. albicans and 110 (19.1%) by C. parapsilosis. The incidence of candidemia per 1000 admissions/y and 100 000 population/y remained stable for both species. C. parapsilosis affected younger patients with fewer comorbidities and lower mortality than C. albicans. The catheter was the main source in both groups, but genotyping revealed no C. parapsilosis clusters, suggesting the absence of a significant horizontal transmission. We did not have a single episode of fluconazole-resistant C. parapsilosis candidemia.

Conclusions: Our data do not suggest an increasing trend in the incidence of C. albicans and C. parapsilosis candidemia in recent years. Candidemia caused by both species is not significantly transmitted from patient to patient in the hospital. The genotypical distribution of fluconazole-resistant C. parapsilosis should be further studied.

Keywords: Candida albicans; Candida parapsilosis; antifungal resistance; candidemia; epidemiology; genotyping.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. A.S.M., P.E., P.G.C., and E.B. declare no conflicts of interest. M.M. has received fees from Pfizer, Gilead, and ViiV Healthcare for participation in conferences. J.G. has received grants or contracts from the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria, Gilead, Cidara, F2G, Scynexis, and Mundipharma (payments made to the institution), as well as honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers’ bureaus, manuscript writing, or educational events from Gilead, Pfizer, MSD, and Mundipharma. E.R. has received a grant or contract from PI20/01381 Instituto de Salud Carlos III, consulting fees and honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers’ bureaus, manuscript writing, or educational events from Cepheid and Tillotts, and support for attending meetings/travel from Tillotts. P.M. reports support for the present manuscript from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) through the project “PI20/00575” and has received grants or contracts from Mundipharma, consulting fees from Mundipharma and Gilead, honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers’ bureaus, manuscript writing, or educational events from Mundipharma, Pfizer, and Menarini, and support for attending meetings/travel from Mundipharma, Pfizer, and Gilead.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Evolution of the incidence of total episodes of candidemia by any Candida species and incidence of Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis candidemia over 14 years represented per 1000 admissions/y.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Evolution of the incidence of total episodes of candidemia by any Candida species and incidence of Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis candidemia over 14 years represented per 100 000 inhabitants/y.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Representation of 30-day mortality in candidemia due to Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis over the 14-year study period.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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