A Simple, Fast, and Reliable Method for the Identification of Candida albicans.

Background: Candida is one of the common pathogens in nosocomial infections. Culture is the gold standard for diagnosing candidemia. Candida albicans is identified via the germ tube test, which uses serum as the culture medium, which is costly and time-consuming. This study was conducted to evaluate and compare a relatively simple, fast, and reliable method for the detection of Candida albicans.

Methods: We conducted this randomized case study at Taipei City Hospital (TCH) from January 2023 to August 2023, with a total of 30 specimen culture reports collected and confirmed to be cases of Candida albicans infection. A germ tube test was performed in a 37°C water bath using serum, plasma, and safe plasma products (Fresh Frozen Plasma, FFP). Further, the same procedures were repeated with the addition of 22% bovine serum albumin (BSA) to the identification/culture.

Results: By adding BSA, more than 50% of the budding phenomenon was observed in 40 minutes, which shortened the diagnosis time compared with the traditional method (2-3 hours). Using BSA can shorten the identification time for early clinical medication and improve the quality of medical care.

Conclusion: Using safer plasma products for germ tube test of candidiasis not only reduced the risk of infection for medical technicians but could also replace the serum used in traditional methods to increase convenience and save time. This study proposed BSA as a germ tube induction medium enhancer, which reduced the culture time, thereby enabling quicker diagnosis of C. albicans infections.