Introduction: Candidiasis is the commonest fungal disease found in humans affecting mucosa, skin, nails and internal organs. It is caused by various species of yeast like fungi belonging to genus with as the representative species. It is found Candida Candida albicans mainly as secondary infection in individuals with some underlying immunocompromised condition and rarely as the primary disease 1 species are component of normal flora of human beings. They are commonly Candida found on the skin, throughout the gastrointestinal tract and female genital tract particularly higher in the vagina during pregnancy. A variety of factors are known to predispose both superficial and deep seated candidiasis. All these factors act either by altering the balance of normal microbial flora of the body or by lowering the host resistance.1, 2 During the last century two important predisposing factors have been noticed to be important. One was the advent of antibacterial antibiotics and their indiscriminate use and the other being the emergence of pandemics like AIDS, Malignancy, Diabetes mellitus and other immunocompromising disorders. Although remains the most common Candida albicans causative agent of both superficial and deep fungal infections, an increasing incidence of Non-albicans has also been documented in the last few years. These species include Candida 1, 3 C. tropicalis, C. krusei, C. glabrata and C. parapsilosis Azoles antifungal agents have therapeutic activity against different Candida species. Amongst the azoles, Fluconazole shows that satisfactory tolerance has appeared and drug resistance is quickly becoming a major problem especially in immunocompromised patients. 4, 5 This resistance also favours the emergence of C. krusei and C. glabrata. 6 attributes its pathogenicity to its virulence factors; one of which is the Candida biofilm production. A biofilm is a community of microorganisms and their extra cellular polymers that are attached to a surface.7 Biofilms may help maintain the role of fungi as
Introduction: Candidiasis is the commonest fungal disease found in humans affecting mucosa, skin, nails and internal organs. It is caused by various species of yeast like fungi belonging to genus Candida with Candida albicans as the representative species. It is found mainly as secondary infection in individuals with some underlying immunocompromised condition and rarely as the primary disease 1 Candida species are component of normal flora of human beings. They are commonly found on the skin, throughout the gastrointestinal tract and female genital tract particularly higher in the vagina during pregnancy. A variety of factors are known to predispose both superficial and deep seated candidiasis. All these factors act either by altering the balance of normal microbial flora of the body or by lowering the host resistance.1, 2 During the last century two important predisposing factors have been noticed to be important. One was the advent of antibacterial antibiotics and their indiscriminate use and the other being the emergence of pandemics like AIDS, Malignancy, Diabetes mellitus and other immunocompromising disorders. Although Candida albicans remains the most common causative agent of both superficial and deep fungal infections, an increasing incidence of Non-albicans Candida has also been documented in the last few years. These species include C. tropicalis, C. krusei, C. glabrata and C. parapsilosis 1, 3 Azoles antifungal agents have therapeutic activity against different Candida species. Amongst the azoles, Fluconazole shows that satisfactory tolerance has appeared and drug resistance is quickly becoming a major problem especially in immunocompromised patients. 4, 5 This resistance also favours the emergence of C. krusei and C. glabrata. 6 Candida attributes its pathogenicity to its virulence factors; one of which is the biofilm production. A biofilm is a community of microorganisms and their extra cellular polymers that are attached to a surface.7 Biofilms may help maintain the role of fungi as