eMedicine Specialties > Emergency Medicine > Infectious Diseases

Candidiasis: Follow-up

Author: Tarlan Hedayati, MD, Instructor of Clinical Emergency Medicine, Director of Observation Unit, Director of Chest Pain Unit, Department of Emergency Medicine, Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center
Coauthor(s): Joseph Choi, MD, Resident Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, LAC+USC Medical Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Apr 28, 2009

Follow-up

Further Inpatient Care

  • Patients with invasive candidiasis often have a prolonged inpatient course and may require several weeks of parenteral antifungal therapy.
  • Removal of invasive catheters with positive fungal culture results is an essential step in management.22

Further Outpatient Care

  • Uncomplicated vaginal and cutaneous candidiasis
    • When treated in the ED and discharged with medication, patients should be instructed to see their primary physician if symptoms persist or worsen.
    • For recurrent vulvovaginitis, patients should be screened for HIV infection, diabetes mellitus, leukemia, or other immunologic dysfunction. 
  • Severe candidiasis: If an underlying disorder is suspected, patients should be referred for workup in an outpatient setting for possible primary causes leading to the immunocompromised state.

Inpatient & Outpatient Medications

  • Localized mucocutaneous infections are treated with outpatient topical and oral medication. Patients with invasive infections that have stabilized may be discharged with parenteral medications administered at home.

Transfer

  • Patients with invasive candidiasis may require transfer to a facility where intensive care and specialty consultations are available.

Deterrence/Prevention

  • Multiple studies have been performed evaluating fluconazole prophylaxis in the ICU; however, the studies had either limited numbers or were performed in only one center, thereby limiting the ability to apply the evidence to the general population.23
  • Candida prevention in the neonatal intensive care unit is also controversial. Fluconazole prophylaxis can lead to the emergence of Candida species that are not susceptible to fluconazole. This is a concern as mortality varies substantially by Candida species. C glabrata is associated with the highest mortality rate in neonates. Studies have demonstrated that less frequent dosing may delay the emergence of antifungal resistance but more evidence-based data are required.
  • Screening pregnant women for vaginal infection and subsequently treating the infection, including vaginal candidiasis, reduces preterm delivery rates by 50%.
  • Oral candidiasis can be prevented in patients who wear dentures (ie, immunocompromised population) by various methods of disinfections, which include microwave irradiation and sodium hypochlorite soaks.24,25

Complications

  • Untreated candidemia can lead to metastatic foci of virtually any organ system and may lead to blindness, organ failure, and death.

Prognosis

  • Prognosis of candidal infection varies based on location of infection. Local mucocutaneous infections typically respond well to medical therapy. Response to invasive infection is determined by how quickly infection with Candida is recognized and treatment is initiated as well as underlying host immune response and comorbidities.

Patient Education

Miscellaneous

Medicolegal Pitfalls

  • Many physicians treating patients with invasive candidiasis are not aware of the risk and consequences of ocular candidiasis. A formal ophthalmologic examination is required in all patients with systemic disease.

Special Concerns

  • Invasive candidiasis requires clinical suspicion and is often difficult to diagnose. Missed infections have high morbidity and mortality. Physicians must consider Candida infection as a possible pathogen in patients with risk factors. Because cultures frequently do not grow Candida species in known patients with candidemia, positive blood cultures for Candida should never be regarded as a contaminant. Antifungal therapy must be considered in critically ill patients on broad-spectrum antibiotics, especially if they are known to be colonized with Candida species .
 
Acknowledgments

The authors and editors of eMedicine gratefully acknowledge the contributions of previous author, Emily Anne Carpenter Rose, MD, to the development and writing of this article.



More on Candidiasis

Overview: Candidiasis
Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Candidiasis
Treatment & Medication: Candidiasis
Follow-up: Candidiasis
Multimedia: Candidiasis
References
Further Reading
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References

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Further Reading

Clinical guidelines
Guidelines for treatment of candidiasis. Pappas PG, Kauffman CA, Andes D, Benjamin DK Jr, Calandra TF, Edwards JE Jr, et al. Clinical practice guidelines for the management of candidiasis: 2009 update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clin Infect Dis. Mar 1 2009;48(5):503-35.

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Keywords

candidiasis, Candida albicans, C albicans, Candida tropicalis, C tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, C parapsilosis, Candida guilliermondi, C guilliermondi, Candida lusitaniae, C lusitaniae, Candida krusei, C krusei, Torulopsis glabrata, Tglabrata, mycotic infection, vaginitis, vulvar rash, oral thrush, conjunctivitis, endophthalmitis, diaper rash, infections of nail, infections of rectum, infections of skin folds, systemic candidiasis, oral candidiasis, gastrointestinal candidiasis, red macerated intertriginous areas, vulvovaginitis, candidal infection, nosocomial bloodstream infection, candidemia, fungemia, vulvovaginal candidiasis, candidal esophagitis

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Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Tarlan Hedayati, MD, Instructor of Clinical Emergency Medicine, Director of Observation Unit, Director of Chest Pain Unit, Department of Emergency Medicine, Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center
Tarlan Hedayati, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Joseph Choi, MD, Resident Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, LAC+USC Medical Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
Joseph Choi, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

David FM Brown, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Associate-Chief, Attending Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
David FM Brown, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
Disclosure: Schering  Honoraria Speaking and teaching

Pharmacy Editor

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Managing Editor

Barry J Sheridan, DO, Chief, Department of Emergency Medical Services, Brooke Army Medical Center
Barry J Sheridan, DO is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

John D Halamka, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Chief Information Officer, CareGroup Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
John D Halamka, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Rick Kulkarni, MD, Medical Director, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Section of Emergency Medicine, Yale-New Haven Hospital
Rick Kulkarni, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
Disclosure: WebMD Salary Employment

 
 
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