Introduction: ABSTRACT
Fungal infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients especially when they are undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer or are immune suppressed because of bone-marrow recipients or solid organ transplantation. Candida and Aspergillus species are the most common fungal pathogens responsible for invasive fungal infection (IFI). Unfortunately, the diagnosis of IFIs remains difficult and it is often confirmed late. The value of fungal surveillance cultures (SCs) as predictors of IFIs is well known and consists of swabs such as throat, nasal and rectal. Copan ESwab is a Liquid Based Microbiology device used in our institution for the collection of all clinical specimens for the diagnosis of infectious diseases including fungal. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the performance of ESwab for the collection of clinical specimens for the detection of fungal and yeast in SCs.
