Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology Medknow Publications on behalf of Indian Association of Medical Microbiology ISSN: 0255-0857 EISSN: 1998-3646 Vol. 29, Num. 4, 2011, pp. 443-443

Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol. 29, No. 4, October-December, 2011, pp. 443

Correspondence

Comment on: Yeast identification in routine clinical microbiology laboratory and its clinical relevance

Juhi Taneja¹, Jagdish Chander²

¹ Consultant Microbiologist, Dr Dang's Laboratory, Hauz Khaz, New Delhi, India
² Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College, Hospital, Chandigarh, India
Correspondence Address: Juhi Taneja, Consultant Microbiologist, Dr Dang's Laboratory, Hauz Khaz, New Delhi, India, drjuhitaneja@gmail.com

Date of Submission: 20-Sep-2011
Date of Acceptance: 19-Oct-2011

Code Number: mb11109

PMID: 22120815
DOI: 10.4103/0255-0857.90196

Dear Editor,

I read the recent publication on yeast identification in routine clinical microbiology laboratory and its clinical relevance with great interest. ^[1] The authors conclude that the use of chromogenic medium with morphology on CMA provides rapid and accurate identification of commonly isolated single or multispecies yeast. However, we have the following concern.

In the present study, the yeast isolates were identified on the basis of growth on Cornmeal Agar through slide culture. The slide culture technique in mycology is used to study the undisturbed morphological details of the mycelial fungi. The advantage of using slide culture for yeast identification is not understandable when similar results can be achieved on CMA on a petri dish. The authors have included chromogenic media for confirmation of yeast identification. In the present study, the striking similar results on the chromogenic media and CMA can be an observer bias. In a recent publication by Baradkar et al, sensitivity and specificity for different Candida species have been reported to be variable. ^[2] Also, absent from this study was estimation of the sensitivity and specificity of yeast identification by various methods. For yeast identification, biochemical tests like sugar fermentation and assimilation are of immense importance and cannot be overlooked.

References

1.	Agarwal S, Manchanda V, Verma N, Bhalla P. Yeast identification in routine clinical microbiology laboratory and its clinical relevance. Indian J Med Microbiol 2011;29:172-7.  Back to cited text no. 1  [PUBMED]
2.	Baradkar VP, Mathur M, Kumar S. Hichrom Candida Agar for identification of Candida species. Indian J Pathol Microbiol 2010;53:93-5.  Back to cited text no. 2  [PUBMED]

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