Assessment of the performance of CHROMagar Candida media in identification of candida strains

Objective: The treatment of Candida infections differs according to Candida species. The identification by routine and conventional methods can take several days. For this reason, rapid diagnosis of Candida species is important for initiating an effective antifungal therapy. Material and Method: Sixty one Candida strains included in the study were evaluated at 24th and 48th hours after they were cultivated on CHROMagar Candida medium and incubated under appropriate conditions in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. Results: When CHROMagar Candida medium and reference methods were compared in the study, it was found that CHROMagar Candida and referance method were detected the same species in 36 of the 61 samples (40.9%). Candida species were produced in CHROMagar Candida medium in 25 samples (59.1%) but the identification of species could not be made. Conclusion: The CHROMagar Candida medium allows the discrimination of Candida parapsilosis species as well as Candida albicans according to the germe tube test, but does not allow the discrimination of other Candida species. It also has disadvantages of having problems due to different colors and high cost