Artigos originaisResumo OBJETIVO: analisar pacientes com candidíase vulvovaginal quanto a sintomatologia, fatores de risco e resultados da cultura anal, identifi car a freqüência de Candida albicans e não C. albicans e correlacionar as colonizações anal e vaginal. The yeasts were identifi ed using the classic method, in addition to the growth test at 42º and 45ºC and the Hypertonic Saboraud broth test. Symptomatology, risk factors and anal colonization were assessed according to positive or negative culture for Candida spp. The cultures positive for C. albicans at the two sites were compared with other results encountered. Yates' χ 2 test and Fisher's exact test were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: the most frequent was C. albicans in 69% of the cases. Wearing tight and/or synthetic underclothing, the presence of allergic diseases, the occurrence of itching, leukorrhea and hyperemia showed a signifi cant association with positive culture for Candida spp in the vagina. The chance of a patient with positive anal colonization to present with concomitant positive vaginal colonization was 2.8 and 4.9 times greater for Candida spp and C. albicans, respectively. The risk of a patient with anal culture positive for C. albicans to present with positive vaginal colonization was 3.7 times greater when

In the present study, we determined the frequency of superficial and cutaneous mycoses and their etiologic agents during a 7-year period (2002–2008) in Natal, Brazil. A total of 1,717 specimens of skin, nail, and hair were collected from 1,382 patients with suspected mycoses lesions and were then subjected to direct microscopy and culture.

All the newborns with umbilical venous catheters, hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit at Januário Cicco Maternity Hospital in Natal, Brazil, between January, 2003 and December, 2004 were studied. The prevalence of Candida species in the tips of intra-venous catheters was assessed, as well as the coexisting exposures that the patients were subjected to. Catheter tips were cultivated in blood agar and when yeast culture occurred, the colony was subcultivated for species identification through morphologic and biochemical assays. From a total of 240 catheters, 41 were positive for yeasts, and 34 were submitted to identification. The following agents were isolated: 13 C. albicans (38%), 10 Candida parapsilosis (29%), 8 C. tropicalis (20%), one C. guilliermondii (3%), one C. famata (3%) and one Trichosporon spp. (3%). Three patients among those with positive catheter tip fungal cultures were also hemoculture positive, with the same fungal species at both sites. Among the coexisting exposures, it should be pointed out that all the patients underwent broad spectrum antibiotic therapy, used a nasogastric probe, in addition to undergoing other invasive procedures such as mechanical ventilation and umbilical catheter implantation.