Prospective Evaluation of the New Chromogenic Medium Candida ID, in Comparison with Candiselect, for Isolation of Molds and Isolation and Presumptive Identification of Yeast Species

We conducted a prospective evaluation of Candida ID chromogenic medium (bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) with 786 clinical specimens in comparison with Candiselect medium (Bio-Rad, Marnes la Coquette, France). Candida ID chromogenic medium identified 97.7% of Candida albicans strains; enabled presumptive identification of C. tropicalis, C. lusitaniae, C. guillermondii, and C. kefyr and better detection of yeast combinations (11.4% more often); and was more sensitive for the isolation of filamentous fungi (17.7% more often). However, Candida ID chromogenic medium appeared to be less selective vis-à-vis bacteria, with bacterial colonies sometimes pigmented blue.