DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION OF BIOFILM FORMED BY CANDIDA SPECIES ISOLATED FROM CLINICAL SAMPLES AT TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL.

Candida speciesis a part of commensalin healthy humans but they can cause opportunistic infections, especially in immunocompromised individuals, patient admitted in ICUs(Intensive care units) and HIV patients. biofilm act as protective shield of microorganism. Candida species form most common fungal biofilm, which is extremely difficult to treat.

Purpose: The biofilm forming candida is difficult to eradicate with usual antifungal drug and often cause chronic infections. Understanding of biofilm process is very important for effective control strategies of biofilm associated infections and improvement in patient management.

Method:The observational cross sectional prospective study was conducted on forty patients samples including urine, BAL/sputum, blood culture, body fluids, pus, swab, indwelling devicesand tissue showing candida species growth. Biofilm was detected using pre-sterilized 96 well polystyrene microtitre plate method.

Results: Among 40 isolates, 22 isolates were detected positive, whereas 18 isolates were negative for biofilm formation. C. tropicalis had formed maximum strong biofilms among all species isolated. These biofilm acts resisting antifungal treatment and withstanding the competitive pressure from other organisms, these are difficult to treat.Changing trend with shift toward non albicans.

Conclusion:Candida tropicalis as the predominant pathogen causing candidia infectionsand it had highest capacity to form biofilm.