ABSTRACT
Candida remains the most common cause of fungal disease worldwide with infections ranging from super–cial candidosis of mucosal membranes requiring “over-the-counter” pharmaceutical intervention to life-threatening invasive disease necessitating extensive medical, even surgical treatment. An improved awareness of invasive disease and an increasing susceptible population are countered by the availability of effective prophylaxis and limited techniques for accurate diagnosis. The incidence of disease is, at best, described as steady but varies geographically and is in¼uenced by general hospital practice. Indeed, comparison of incidence between countries is dif–cult. For countries without surveillance programs or the capacity to diagnose the disease using conventional techniques, the incidence may be greatly underestimated.
