INTRODUCTION: In recent years, the opportunism of yeast infections is becoming more recurrent and difficult to treat, mainly due to the emergence of new species as well as due to decreased susceptibility to antifungal agents. The successful treatment of infections caused by Candida is increasingly dependent on knowledge of the causative species and its susceptibility profile to antifungals. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to conduct an investigation of the susceptibility profile of samples of oral and vulvovaginal candidiasis in patients of western Santa Catarina to the antifungal amphotericin B, fluconazole and miconazole. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The susceptibility of 60 strains of Candida spp. was evaluated for antifungal agents. The determination of minimum inhibitory concentrations and minimal fungicidal concentrations were based on document M27-A2 of the CLSI. RESULTS: In this study, we observed a high rate of resistance to fluconazole and amphotericin B. The miconazole was the antifungal agent significantly more effective on the strains tested. DISCUSSION: The samples in this region of the state of Santa Catarina showed a low susceptibility to antifungal agents, which explains the high rate of relapses in infections, but alert to the emergence of strains with acquired resistance. CONCLUSION: The preliminary assessment by in vitro susceptibility testing should guide the conduct of effective therapy for cases of recurrent mainly in areas of high prevalence of opportunistic infection, as in western of Santa Catarina.
Candida; Antifungal agents; Susceptibility profiles
