Antifungal resistance profile of Candida species involved in vulvovaginal candidiasis infections in pregnant women in the Buea Regional Hospital, Cameroon

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a global health problem with about 70–75% of women experiencing at least one episode of vulvovaginal candidiasis with 40–45% having two or more episodes. Therefore, making treatment difficult leading to antifungal resistance. The aim of this study was to determine the antifungal resistance profile of Candida spp. in pregnant women suffering from vulvovaginal candidiasis infections in the Buea Regional Hospital. This was cross-sectional and experimental study, carried out from the 20th May to the 30th June 2024. The sample size calculated was 132 participants where volunteers were administered questionnaires in order to obtain their socio-demographic data, health history, diagnosis and treatment alongside their vaginal swab samples. The samples were cultured on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar, Gram stain microscopy was done to identify Candida strains involved. The antifungal susceptibility testing was done to identify the antifungal resistance pattern. The diameter of inhibition was measured and the resistance pattern was classified as susceptible, intermediate and resistant strains with respect to specific antifungals. The data was keyed in Microsoft Excel 2010 and analyzed using SPSS version 20 with the quantitative data analysed with t-test were P ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Data was represented in frequencies and percentages. A total number of 92 participants were recruited of varying ages with the highest being women 48(52.2%) within the age range 26–36 years. The prevalence was 51(55.4%) for positive cases and 41(44.6%) for negative cases. The prevalence of the species determined from the positive cases were 40(78.4%) for C. albicans and 11(21.6%) were non-albicans Candida species. The susceptibility differed with the species, C. albicans: Ketoconazole (KCA)-10 21(52.5%), and Fluconazole (FLC)-25 12(30%). None of the non-albicans Candida species (NAC) isolates were susceptible to any of the tested drugs. The non-albicans Candida (NAC) isolates were more resistant to the antifungal drugs with the rate of infection amongst pregnant women still high.