Fungal infections in the intensive care unit? Another approach for defining a target group of patients who benefit from implementing preemptive antimycotic treatment

Candida spp. is the third most common reason for sepsis in the ICU, not differentiating our results from the classic pattern of ICU-acquired infection. Prevention of sepsis development and identification of potentially modifiable risk factors are important goals in intensive care patents. Preemptive treatment of Candida sepsis accepted by some authors is defined as an early antifungal treatment given to patients with evidence of substantial colonization in the presence of multiple risk factors for Candida infection prior to establishing the diagnosis by cultures. Our aim was to form a focused group of patients with significant risk for Candida sepsis; to prove the feasibility and efficacy of our preemptive scheme for antimycotic treatment in order to reduce the risk of development of proved Candida sepsis.