Candida spp. are Largely Alien in Beach Mycosands

Abstract

Only recently microbial impurity of beach sand has become an essential issue, particularly during the COVID-19 and in the post-Covid period when a large number of beachgoers are infected not only by the virus but also with other microbes. Besides the bacterial and viral microbes, fungal contamination of beach sand has also been studied in detail in the recent past. Although few Candida spp. have been isolated from the beach sand, the growths of common pathogenic Candida spp. like Candida albicans has not been studied so far. In this study, we used two species of pathogenic Candida – Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis to observe their growth patterns in sea sand. Growths of both species were inhibited in sea sand. It eliminates the possibility of long survival of these species in sea sand and thus their existence mainly appears as surface contamination.