See previous blog. Today we saw a patient with candidemia, presumably from a urinary source. We discussed species identification, and the use of the germ tube test for rapid identification of Candida albicans.
This article discusses the clinical utility of the germ tube test, quoting a sensitivity of 87% and specificity of 100% for identifing C. albicans -- directly off of the positive blood culture! This saves ~24h in the rapid identification of C. albicans, as the germ tube is traditionally performed off a subculture on fungal medium, adding up to a 24h delay.
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