Infections caused by yeast of the genus Candida are the most common fungal infections, being Candida albicans the most common isolated species among them. The rapid identification of this yeast is mostly based on the production of germ tube in human or animal serum. This study describes the use of 12 different liquid media for germ tube production at 2, 2.5, 3 and 4 h. We examined 193 yeasts, including 157 (81.3%) C. albicans and 36 (18.7%) Candida tropicalis for the production of germ tube. The germ tube production of C. albicans was mostly observed in human serum (98%) followed by rabbit serum (89.8%), brain heart infusion broth (84%) and sheep serum (74.5%) at 2 h. An incubation time exceeding 2 h i.e. 2.5 h or later, C. tropicalis strains were observed to produce germ tubes. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for germ tube production of human serum at 2 h were 98%, 100%, 100% and 92.3% respectively. In all tested sera, an incubation period of more than 2 h improves the sensitivity, but decreases the specificity as well as PPV and NPV of germ tube test (GTT). In conclusion, human serum was observed to be the most appropriate medium to be preferred for GTT, with an incubation period of 2 h.

These findings indicate that the fluids within spermatoceles and epididymal cysts do not become infected under normal circumstances.

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of ciprofloxacin in the treatment of chronic bacterial prostatitis due t o various microorganisms. Methods:Patients with chronic prostatitis symptoms were evaluated by culture of their expressed prostatic secretion and fractionated urine samples according to the four-glass localization test of Meares and Stamey. Patients with an isolated microbial agent were treated with ciprofloxacin 500 m g twice a day for 4 weeks and re-evaluated 1 week and 6 months after the treatment. Results:Sixteen of the 68 (23.5%) evaluated patients were diagnosed as having chronic prostatitis with an isolated microbial agent. Ureaplasma urealyticum was the most common microorganism related to chronic prostatitis. Eradication of the previously isolated microbial agent was found in 11 of the 16 patients at the first-week evaluation. At the 6-month control evaluation no growth was observed on the cultures of seven of the 16 (43.8%) patients, which was accepted as successful treatment.Conclusions: U. urealyticum can be the responsible agent in some chronic prostatitis patients. Ciprofloxacin may be a treatment option in chronic prostatitis.