Yeast from burn patients at a major burn centre of China

Aim: This study presents fungi and their characteristics identified from burn patients at a major Chinese burn centre. Methods: All burns patients admitted to our Burn Research Institute from 2003 to 2006 inclusive were included in this study. Once fungal infection was suspected clinically, samples including wound tissue, blood, urine, stool and sputum were harvested for the culture of yeast. The sensitivities of the identified yeast were determined and the positive samples and cases were analysed. Results: Out of a total of 3909 cases, 467 patients were clinically suspected of fungal infection, of which 1970 samples were taken for yeast culture. A total of 38 samples and 36 patients tested positive. The three most positive samples were urine, blood and catheter. Candida tropicalis was identified as the most common yeast type (42.1%), followed by Candida albicans (31.6%), Candida famata (T. Famata) (10.5%) and Candida glabrata (T. Glabrata) (7.9%). Except for C. galbrata, most of the yeast strains found in the study were sensitive to the routine antimycotic agents. There were eight deaths in the 36 positive patients. As much as 83.3% of the positive cases suffered burns of more than 50% total body surface area (TBSA) and half of the positive cases were greater than 80% TBSA. A total of 78.95% of the positive samples were taken from patients after 2 weeks post-burn injury. Conclusion: A profile of the fungi isolated from burn patients in a major Chinese burn centre is presented.