Background: Major causes responsible for high morbidity and mortality rates in burn patients are bacteria and Candida spp. Candidemia is considered to lead to high mortality among these patients. In this study, we aimed to determine the frequency of Candida albicans among burn patients In Shahid Motahari Burns Hospital, Tehran, Iran In 2017-2018.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 116 burn patients from BICU of Shahid Motahari Burns hospital. 71 burn patients met the inclusion criteria: Age under 14 years, persistent fever despite of antibiotic administration, inappropriate general condition, and color change of burn wound. We conducted statistical analysis using IBM SPSS, version 24. Descriptive analysis of the variables was done by mean and standard deviation (SD). Chi-Square Test of Independence and Fisher Exact test were used for the assessment of potential associations between categorical variables.
Results: 16.3 percent had candidemia: C. albicans 8.6 percent, C. krusei 4.3 percent and C. glabrata 3.4 percent. There was a statistically significant association between candidemia and burn percentage, burn degree and administration time of total parenteral nutrition (TPN(p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, respectively).
Conclusion: C. albicans was showed to be the significant pathogen among burn patients in Shahid Motahari Burns Hospital.