ABSTRACT
Clinical signs and symptoms of candidemia and disseminated candidiasis include fever or hypothermia and hypotension. Non-Candida yeasts are starting to surface as emerging yeast pathogens, seen almost exclusively in clinical settings with a large immunocompromised patient base. This chapter focuses on Candida, by far the most prevalent invasive yeast pathogen, and for which the most diagnostic methods have been developed. Candidemia is the 4th most common hospital-acquired bloodstream infection in the United States, with similar trends being reported in epidemiological studies worldwide. This infection has a high societal impact, having an attributable mortality in excess of 30%, despite significant advancementsin patient management, critical care, and the development and availability of highly active antifungal agents. The diagnostic gold standards for invasive candidiasis are, as in most mycoses, histopathological evidence of infection and culturing of the organism from a normally sterile site or body fluid.
