Candidemia in Internal Medicine: Facing the New Challenge

Candidemia is an alarming problem in critically ill patients including those admitted in Internal Medicine Wards (IMWs). Here, we analyzed all cases of candidemia in adult patients hospitalized over nine years (2010-2018) in IMWs of a 980-bedded University Hospital of Ancona, Italy. During the study period, 218/505 (43%) episodes of candidemia occurred in IMWs patients. The cumulative incidence was 2.5/1000 hospital admission and increased significantly over time (p = 0.013). Patients were predominantly male, with a median age of 68 years. Cardiovascular diseases and solid tumors were the most frequent comorbidities. Candida albicans accounted for 51% of the cases, followed by C. parapsilosis (25%), C. tropicalis (9%) and C. glabrata (7%). Thirty-day mortality was 28% and did not increased significantly over time. By multivariate logistic regression analysis, the presence of neutropenia (OR 7.247 [CI95% 1,368-38,400; p = 0.020]), pneumonia (OR 2.323 [CI95% 1,105-4,884; p = 0.026]), and being infected with C. albicans (OR 2.642 [95% CI 1,223-5,708; p = 0.013) emerged as independent predictors of mortality. The type of antifungal therapy did not influence the outcome. Overall, these data indicate that patients admitted to IMWs are increasingly at higher risk of developing candidemia. Mortality rate remains high and significantly associated with both microbiologic- and host-related factors.