Experience With Candida Infections in the Burn Patient

Abstract

A review of 427 acutely burned patients reveals that<i>Candida</i>organisms were cultured in 271 patients. The organism was found in the wound in 233 patients and in the urine in 131. Positive blood cultures were present in 22 instances. Disseminated candidiasis was demonstrated at autopsy in 14 of the 65 patients who died. The presence of the organism in the wound may not be of clinical significance, but disseminated systemic infection does occur in a significant number of cases. Discontinuing antibiotic therapy, the removal of intravenous catheters, and, where appropriate, intravenous administration of amphotericin B is advised. While<i>Candida albicans</i>has long been recognized as a pathogen, other species of<i>Candida</i>are also capable of causing systemic disease.