A Report of Candida blankii Fungemia and Possible Endocarditis in an Immunocompetent Individual and the Review of Literature

Candida blankii  is an emerging pathogenic fungus, first identified in 1968 as a new species. In the past five years, it has been identified in cystic fibrosis patient's airways and as fungemia in immunocompromised patients (post lung transplant and preterm neonates). It has been postulated to...

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Published inCurēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 13; no. 5
Main Authors Kollu, Vidya S, Kalagara, Pramod K, Islam, Shehla, Gupte, Asmita
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Palo Alto (CA) Cureus 10.05.2021
Subjects
Cardiology
Infectious Disease
Internal Medicine
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Summary:Candida blankii  is an emerging pathogenic fungus, first identified in 1968 as a new species. In the past five years, it has been identified in cystic fibrosis patient's airways and as fungemia in immunocompromised patients (post lung transplant and preterm neonates). It has been postulated to be a possible opportunistic pathogen based on the published case reports. We report a case of C. blankii fungemia with possible endocarditis in an immunocompetent individual. To our knowledge, this is also the first case of C. blankii bloodstream infection reported in an adult patient (age > 18 years). The C. blanki i  isolate from our patient had high minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) to azoles similar to the published reports. There is a dearth of literature guiding the treatment of this organism, given the variable susceptibility pattern and lack of data. Here, we describe successful treatment of possible C. blanki i endocarditis with a combination of polyene and echinocandin antifungal agents.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.14945