The index-based prediction predated the documented infection by 6 days on average. But besides that significant microbiological resources are required for frequent multisite colonisation screening, basing predictions on colonisation alone may not be an adequate

approach given the multiple known risk factors for IC discussed above. In an attempt to integrate the interplay of those factors, León et al. [16,18] recently presented a prospective multicentre validation study of their Candida score (CS), which combines multifocal colonisation (1 point) with the following ICU-associated factors: total parenteral nutrition (1 point), surgery (1 point), severe Idasanutlin sepsis (2 points). The rate of invasive Candida infections was significantly associated with the score. The relative risk was 5.98 for patients with a CS ≥3 vs. <3. At a CS <3, the risk of developing IC in non-neutropenic medical ICU patients was as low as ≤2.6%, thus largely ruling out a relevant risk of IC in these individuals. A potentially useful clinical prediction rule that does not rely on colonisation was developed by Ostrosky-Zeichner et al. as follows: IC is predicted to occur in patients meeting the following criteria: systemic antibiotic therapy or central venous catheter and at least two of the following: total parenteral nutrition, dialysis,

major surgery, pancreatitis, steroids or other immunosuppressive agents. At an IC incidence of 10%, this rule captured 34% of cases, www.selleckchem.com/products/Bortezomib.html albeit at a surprisingly high specificity of 90%.19 A modification of the rule requiring mechanical ventilation and a central venous catheter in place and broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy for 3 days and one or more additional risk

factor(s) may show enhanced performance, capturing more cases.20 Invasive candidiasis is caused by a range of pathogen species, predominantly involving Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida parapsilosis, Candida tropicalis and Candida krusei. The distribution of isolates in a given patient population is influenced by numerous factors including geographic localisation, age, comorbidities, duration of hospital stay and local epidemiology. For example, large surveys PRKD3 of clinical isolates in Europe and Northern America revealed substantial differences in species distribution: the prevalence of C. glabrata was reported to be about twice as high in the USA as in Europe, largely at the cost of C. albicans.21 As documented in an ECMM survey in 2006, C. parapsilosis is about four times more prevalent in Spain than in Germany (30% vs. 7%), while C. albicans and C. glabrata are less frequently isolated in the southern European countries.3 The proportion of C. glabrata among invasive Candida isolates was reported to be 14% over a 2-year period in a large German teaching hospital.