Candiduria is common in hospitalized patients with a urinary catheter. There is controversy on how to manage candiduria and many patients with candiduria are not treated.
Risk factors for candiduria:
(1) female gender
(2) prolonged catheterization (> 5 days)
(3) antibiotic therapy
(4) advanced age
(5) ICU
(6) surgery
Candiduria may involve Candida albicans or other Candida species.
Classification of candiduria:
(1) colonization or contaminiation
(2) cystitits or pyelonephritis (urinary tract infection)
(3) systemic infection
Indications for antifungal therapy:
(1) symptomatic urinary tract or systemic infection
(2) renal transplant recipient
(3) low birth weight infant
(4) patient undergoing urinary tract instrumentation
(5) positive blood cultures for Candida
The presence of yeast and/or white blood cells in the urine (leukocyturia) are not indications for therapy by themselves.
