Comparision of Techniques for Quantization of Candida-sp in HIV+ Children

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to compare two techniques (swab x whole stimulated saliva) for quantization of Candida ssp in HIV-infected children. Methods: the subjects of 24 HIV-infected children from a Pediatric AIDS Outpatients Clinic. Three sterilized swabs were used for each child: one for the dorsum of the tongue (T), 1 for hard palate mucosa (P) and 1 for the right jugal mucosa (J), and were friccionated for 10 seconds and transferred to test tubes containing 1ml of sterile 0.9% saline solution. The whole stimulated saliva samples (S) were obtained (1gr paraffin sticks), and also diluted (1:10). Aliquots of 100µl were cultured in plates with Agar Sabourraud dextrose and incubated at 37ºC. Plates with positive growth (G+) were classified as: mild growth (M), moderate (MM) and heavy (H). Results: the mean age of the subjects was 6.95 years± 2.90, 58.3% of boys and 41.7% of girls. Considering all samples, 95.8% had G+ for Candida ssp: 95.7% (T), 87.0% (S), 56.6 (P) and 47.8% (J). There was no statistical difference of G+ between (S) and (T), although both had higher G+ compared to (P) and (J), (p< 0.05, 2). Strong growth was found in 69.5% (T), 52.2% (S), 21.7% (P) and 13.04% (J), with no significant statistical difference between (T) and (S), however both were considered more sensitive than (J) and (P) (p< 0.05, 2). Conclusion: There was no significant statistical difference between saliva and swab of the tongue for quantization of Candida ssp.