Monitoring the Diversity and Antifungal Susceptibility of Candida Isolates at Adam Malik Hospital, Medan, Indonesia

Candida species are well‐known for their capacity to cause a broad range of infections in humans. Invasive and device‐related infections caused by Candida albicans and non‐ albicans contribute to a relatively high mortality rate, thereby becoming a major public health concern around the world. This cross‐sectional, retrospective study analyzed the incidence and antifungal susceptibility of several Candida species isolated from clinical samples at Adam Malik Hospital, a tertiary referral hospital in Medan, Indonesia. The data of hospitalized patients who tested positive for Candida species between January 2022 and December 2024 were evaluated using descriptive statistics. The clinical specimens were classified as blood, respiratory, wound, and urine. Following yeast culture in vitro, Candida species were identified using VITEK2 and MALDI‐TOF MS Biotyper automated systems. The antifungal susceptibility tests were subsequently performed using VITEK2 AST‐YS08. There were 2449 hospitalized patients, the majority of whom were males (56.84%), were admitted to medical wards (59.45%), and were predominantly aged 55 to 64 (25.77%). Respiratory specimens dominated (71.87%). C. albicans isolates were slightly more prevalent (50.18%) than non‐ albicans Candida . C. parapsilosis was the most frequent isolate (35.34%) in blood. The overall antifungal susceptibility of Candida isolates was greater than 90%. The rising occurrence of non‐ albicans highlights the importance of monitoring clinical isolates of Candida in an attempt to prevent antifungal resistance while developing evidence‐based treatment, particularly in susceptible patients.