Affiliations: Mycology Laboratory, Medicine Faculty, UFMT,
Brazil
Note: [] Correspondence: Dr. Rosane Hahn, Universidade Federal de Mato
Grosso, Faculdade de Medicina, Laboratório de Micologia, Av. Fernando
Corrêa da Costa, 2367, Bairro Boa Esperança, Cuiabá, CEP:
78060-900, MT, Brazil. Tel.: +55 65 3615 8809; Fax: +55 65 36158809; E-mail:
rchahn@terra.com.br
Abstract: This study aimed to phenotypically characterize the population of
Candida genus yeasts in the oral cavity of infants receiving artificial feeding
and breastfeeding from their breasts of the mothers. The presence of Candida
spp was detected in 35% of the 157 infants. These were distributed into three
groups: exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), mixed (MF) and artificial feeding (AF);
and frequency was verified according to two factors: isolation of Candida spp
in the oral cavity of infants receiving EBF and MF (35.0%) and AF (67.2%) (p
< 0.005); and those using bottles (67.3%) or breast alone (32.0%). Lactating
women (122 mothers of newborns in EBF and MF) were also studied, together with
30 nonlactating control women; the frequency of in vitro isolation of Candida
spp from the breasts was 32.8% and 13.3%, respectively. In both the oral cavity
of infants and breasts of lactating women, Candida albicans was the most
commonly isolated yeast. An association between the use of pacifiers and oral
colonization by Candida spp was verified. Of the 40 infants who used pacifiers,
colonization was identified in 70.0%. Other predisposing factors were
evaluated, oral hygiene and infants who received kisses on the lips, and both
showed a statistically significant difference, p < 0.01 and p < 0.02,
respectively. In infants, the use of breast pads proved to be a predisposing
factor (OR=2.4) for colonization and infection of the breasts by Candida spp.
In comparisons of the phenotypic identities of Candida spp isolated in the oral
cavity of infants with those isolated from the breasts of their mothers, a
similarity of 69.2% was determined.
Keywords: Oral candidiasis, breast candidiasis, breastfeeding
