Triazole and Echinocandin MIC Distributions with Epidemiological Cutoff Values for Differentiation of Wild-Type Strains from Non-Wild-Type Strains of Six Uncommon Species of Candida

When clinical susceptibility breakpoints (CBPs) are absent, establishing wild-type (WT) MIC distributions and epidemiological cutoff values (ECVs) provides a sensitive means for detecting emerging resistance. We determined species-specific ECVs for anidulafungin (ANF), caspofungin (CSF), micafungin (MCF), fluconazole (FLC), posaconazole (PSC), and voriconazole (VRC) for six rarer Candida species (819 strains) using isolates obtained from the ARTEMIS Program and the SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program, all tested by a reference broth microdilution method. The calculated ECVs, expressed in mu g/ml (and the percentages of isolates that had MICs less than or equal to the ECVs), for ANF, CSF, MCF, FLC, PSC, and VRC, respectively, were 0.12 (95.2), 0.12 (97.8), 0.12 (100.0), 0.5 (95.7), 0.12 (98.6), and 0.03 (100.0) for Candida dubliniensis; 4 (100.0), 2 (96.0), 2 (99.1), 8 (95.0), 0.5 (97.5), and 0.25 (98.0) for C. guilliermondii; 0.25 (98.9), 0.03 (98.0), 0.12 (97.5), 1 (99.1), 0.25 (99.1), and 0.015 (100.0) for C. kefyr; 2 (100.0), 1 (99.6), 0.5 (96.6), 2 (96.1), 0.25 (98.6), and 0.03 (96.6) for C. lusitaniae; and 2 (100.0), 0.5 (100.0), 1 (100.0), 2 (98.0), 0.25 (97.1), and 0.06 (98.0) for C. orthopsilosis, but for C. pelliculosa, ECVs could be determined only for CSF (0.12 [94.4]), FLC (4 [98.2]), PSC (2 [98.2]), and VRC (0.25 [98.2]). In the absence of species-specific CBP values, these WT MIC distributions and ECVs will be useful for monitoring the emergence of reduced susceptibility to the triazole and echinocandin antifungals.