Candida dubliniensis Infections in a Pediatric Population: Retrospective Identification from Clinical Laboratory Isolates of Candida albicans

Candida dubliniensis is a recently described species that shares many phenotypic and morphological features with Candida albicans. The clinical significance of isolating C. dubliniensis from the pediatric population is not clear, as most clinical isolates have been recovered from the oral cavities or bloodstreams of adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus. In order to understand further the epidemiology of C. dubliniensis in our pediatric population, we identified C. dubliniensis isolates from clinical isolates previously identified in the laboratory as C. albicans and conducted a retrospective chart review of cases of C. dubliniensis infections. A total of 205 isolates from 183 patients were tested, and only 14 (6.8%) were identified as C. dubliniensis. In 5 of the 14 positive cultures, C. dubliniensis was the sole organism isolated (two respiratory tract specimens, one tongue specimen, one vaginal specimen, and one skin specimen). A case review showed that there were no adverse outcomes for any of the patients, and only one of the patients with cultures positive for C. dubliniensis was immunocompromised. In our pediatric population, the distinction of C. dubliniensis from C. albicans did not prove to have significant clinical relevance. Data from further investigations may help to define better the role of C. dubliniensis as a potential pathogen in children

Utility of Commercial Systems for Identification of Burkholderia cepacia Complex from Cystic Fibrosis Sputum Culture

Performances of several commercial test systems were reviewed to determine their relative levels of accuracy in identifying Burkholderia cepacia complex isolates recovered from cystic fibrosis sputum culture. Positive predictive values ranged from 71 to 98%; negative predictive values ranged from 50 to 82%. All systems misidentified B. cepacia complex. The species most frequently misidentified as B. cepacia was Burkholderia gladioli. These data support the results of previous studies that recommend confirmatory testing, including the use of DNA-based methods, for sputum culture isolates presumptively identified as B. cepacia