Impact

Candidiasis is a fungal infection caused by Candida albicans, which lives in the mouth, gastrointestinal tract and vagina without causing symptoms. Symptoms develop as C. albicans becomes overgrown in these sites. About 75 percent of adult women have had at least one episode of vaginal infection during their lifetimes. Incidence is 8 cases per 100,000 in the general population. Newborns and people with weakened immune systems, particularly AIDS patients, may develop an oral infection known as thrush. Unchecked growth of a person's own yeast organisms can occur when the host environment becomes imbalanced or the immune system is compromised. Such infections are an exceptional problem for patients with HIV/AIDS or organ transplant, for whom resistance to drugs is a growing, though not widely addressed, issue. Candidiasis is the fourth most common cause of hospital acquired bloodstream infections.

Symptoms

Infections in each site have different symptoms. People with oral infections have white patches in the mouth, with pain and difficulty swallowing. Women with vaginal infections experience itching or burning, and may have some vaginal discharge. Men may have an itchy rash on the genital area.

Seattle BioMed’s Role

The Institute has made a number of critical discoveries that cast light on the cellular effects of drug resistance and on basic mechanisms that trigger the onset and virulence of Candida and other opportunistic infections. With drug resistance, genetic changes occur within the cell, rendering it resistant to the initial drug and other similar drugs. The accumulation of drug within the cell is reduced when at least two types of biological pumps are activated and begin evacuating drug from the cell. How these events are triggered and regulated is the subject of continuing investigation. Seattle BioMed scientists have reported that high doses of antifungal drugs over a short time, rather than low doses over a long time, significantly decrease the incidence of resistance.