Research Article
Medical Device-Associated Candida Infections in
a Rural Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital of India
Sachin C. Deorukhkar and Santosh Saini
Department of Microbiology, Rural Medical College, Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences (Deemed University),
Loni, Maharashtra 413736, India
Correspondence should be addressed to Sachin C. Deorukhkar; deorukhkar.sachin@gmail.com
Received 29 October 2015; Revised 30 December 2015; Accepted 10 January 2016
Academic Editor: Albert Eid
Copyright © 2016 S. C. Deorukhkar and S. Saini. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Health care associated infections (HCAIs) add incrementally to the morbidity, mortality, and cost expected of the patient’s
underlying diseases alone. Approximately, about half all cases of HCAIs are associated with medical devices. As Candida medical
device-associated infection is highly drug resistant and can lead to serious life-threatening complications, there is a need of
continuous surveillance of these infections to initiate preventive and corrective measures. Te present study was conducted at a rural
tertiary care hospital of India with an aim to evaluate the rate of medical device-associated Candida infections. Tree commonly
encountered medical device-associated infections (MDAI), catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CA-UTI), intravascular
catheter-related blood stream infections (CR-BSI), and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), were targeted. Te overall rate
of MDAI in our hospital was 2.1 per 1000 device days. Te rate of Candida related CA-UTI and CR-BSI was noted as 1.0 and 0.3,
respectively. Untiring eforts taken by team members of Hospital Acquired Infection Control Committee along with maintenance
of meticulous hygiene of the hospital and wards may explain the low MDAI rates in our institute. Te present surveillance helped
us for systematic generation of institutional data regarding MDAI with special reference to role of Candida spp.
1. Introduction
Health care associated infections (HCAIs) or hospital ac-
quired infections (HAIs) are infections that occur during
hospitalization but are neither present nor incubating upon
hospital admission. Various factors like increasing incidence
of hospitalization, rapid advancement in medical technology,
and injudicious use of antibiotics along with better adapta-
tion of microbes to the hospital environment contribute to
exponential increase in HCAIs [1]. Even in developed nations,
HCAIs concern 5–15% of hospitalized patients and can lead to
complications in 25–50% of those admitted in intensive care
units (ICUs) [2].
HCAIs add incrementally to the morbidity, mortality,
and cost expected of the patient’s underlying diseases alone.
Additionally, these infections have the potential to severely
undermine the superlative efect of the clinician. Terefore,
prevention and control of HCAIs are an ever escalating threat
which needs to be expeditiously managed.
Approximately about half all cases of HCAIs are asso-
ciated with medical devices [3]. In recent years, mycotic
pathogens are increasingly reported as causes of HCAIs.
Fungi, especially Candida spp., rank 3rd among various
leading cause of catheter-associated infections [4]. Candida
spp. can colonize and form bioflm on most, if not all, medical
devices in current use [5]. As Candida medical device-
associated infection is highly drug resistant and can lead to
serious life-threatening complications, there is a need of con-
tinuous surveillance of these infections to initiate preventive
and corrective measures. A number of published literatures
on rate of medical device-associated infections (MDAI) are
focused on bacterial organisms but unfortunately till date
there is a paucity of data on Candida MDAI. Terefore, the
present study was conducted at a rural tertiary care hospital
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases
Volume 2016, Article ID 1854673, 5 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/1854673