Online ISSN: 2515-8260

Comparison of seven different liquid media for germ tube test for candida albicans

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Kamlesh Rajpal

Abstract

Infections produced by yeast of the genus Candida are the most frequent fungal infections, with Candida albicans being the most prevalent isolated species. The quick identification of this yeast is mostly based on the formation of germ tubes in human or animal serum. This study details the utilisation of seven different liquid media for germ tube development at 2, 2.5, 3, and 4 hours. We looked at 193 yeasts for germ tube formation, including 157 (81.3 percent) C. albicans. At 2 hours, C. albicans germ tube development was most prevalent in human serum (98%), followed by brain heart infusion broth (84%), and tryptic soy broth (65.6%).Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) for human serum germ tube formation at 2 h were 98 percent, 100 percent, 100 percent, and 92.3 percent, respectively. An incubation period of more than 2 hours improves sensitivity but decreases specificity, as well as the PPV and NPV of the germ tube test in all tested sera (GTT). In conclusion, with a 2-hour incubation period, human serum was shown to be the most acceptable medium for GTT

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