• Jennifer K Chow, Yoav Golan, Robin Ruthazer, Adolf W Karchmer, Yehuda Carmeli, Deborah A Lichtenberg, Varun Chawla, Janet A Young, and Susan Hadley.
• Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. jchow@tufts-nemc.org
• Crit. Care Med. 2008 Jul 1;36(7):1993-8.

ObjectiveTo determine risk factors for bloodstream infections (BSI) with Candida non-albicans (C-NA) species and Candida albicans (CA) among critically ill patients.DesignCase-control study.SettingAdult medical and surgical intensive care units (ICUs) at two university hospitals.PatientsConsecutive patients with C-NA and CA BSIs from 1995-2005 formed the two case groups. Controls were patients without candidemia who were randomly selected in a ratio of 5:1 and matched by study hospital, ICU type (medical vs. surgical) and by ICU admission date within a 3-month period.InterventionsData collected included demographics, comorbidities, exposure to antibiotics and antifungals, and ICU factors such as total parenteral nutrition (TPN), blood product transfusions, invasive procedures, central venous catheters, hemodialysis, and mechanical ventilation. We built multivariable logistic regression models, which identified risk factors for C-NA or CA BSIs compared with controls. Variables were adjusted for time-at-risk.Measurements And Main ResultsThere were 67 patients with C-NA BSIs, 79 patients with CA BSIs, and 780 controls. In multivariable models, factors associated with an increased risk of C-NA compared with controls included major pre-ICU operations [odds ratio; (95% confidence interval)] [2.12; (1.14-3.97)], gastrointestinal procedures [2.24; (1.49-3.38)], enteric bacteremia [3.43; (1.39-8.48)], number of hemodialysis days [6.20; (2.67-14.4)], TPN duration [2.87; (1.40-5.90)], and mean number of red blood cell transfusions [2.72; (1.33-5.58)]. Factors associated with an increased risk of CA BSIs compared to controls were very similar and included major ICU operations [1.26; (1.14-3.97)], enteric bacteremia [3.45; (1.38-8.63)], number of hemodialysis days [3.84; (1.75-8.40)], TPN duration [11.0; (5.52-21.7)] and mean number of red blood cell transfusions [1.97; (0.98-3.99)].ConclusionsWe found multiple common risk factors for both non-C. albicans and C. albicans BSIs, however we could not differentiate between these two groups based on clinical characteristics alone.

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