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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 1999, p. 824-827, Vol. 37, No. 3
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Chronic Urinary Tract Infection Due to Candida utilis

Kevin C. Hazen,1,* Gordon W. Theisz,1 and Susan A. Howell2,dagger

Division of Clinical Microbiology, Department of Pathology, University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908,1 and Department of Microbial Diseases, St. John's Institute of Dermatology, St. Thomas' Hospital, London, England2

Received 28 September 1998/Returned for modification 21 October 1998/Accepted 11 November 1998

An elderly male was seen at an outpatient urology clinic over a period of 3 years with repeat urine specimens containing 104 to 105 CFU of a "Candida species, not C. albicans." The urine specimens were described as infected due to the presence of pyuria, but no antifungal therapy was administered. On two occasions, the patient presented to the emergency room and urine specimens were sent to the clinical microbiology laboratory. On both occasions, a yeast was isolated at concentrations of >105 CFU/ml. The organism was identified as the anamorphic yeast Candida utilis (teleomorph: Pichia jadinii) by conventional methods. Molecular methods, including karyotyping and restriction enzyme analysis, confirmed that the isolates were identical and were C. utilis. The patient developed benign prostatic hypertrophy and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease during the 3-year course. This report is the first demonstration of the isolation of the industrially important yeast C. utilis from a urinary tract infection. In the present case, the organism was associated with chronic, symptomatic disease. The significance of this unusual, low-virulence isolate from a case of urinary tract infection is discussed.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathology, Box 214, University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, VA 22908. Phone: (804) 924-8059. Fax: (804) 924-2190. E-mail: khazen{at}virginia.edu.

dagger Present address: Department of Medical Mycology, St. John's Institute of Dermatology, St. Thomas' Hospital, London, England.


Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 1999, p. 824-827, Vol. 37, No. 3
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.