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Efficacy of Antifungal Medicines Against Clinical Isolates of Candida Species Responsible for Vaginal Candidiasis from Regional Referral Hospitals in Tanzania

Received: 20 October 2025     Accepted: 29 October 2025     Published: 9 December 2025
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Abstract

Vaginal candidiasis, caused by Candida species affects a significant proportion of women worldwide. Although different antifungal medicines are being used to treat the infection, the emergence of resistance against these medicines have been reported. This study assessed the efficacy of antifungal medicines which are recommended for treatment in the Tanzania Standard Treatment Guidelines against clinical isolates of Candida spp. Presumptive Isolates of Candida spp. collected from Regional Referral Hospitals (RRH) were transported to the Tanzania Medicine and Medical Devices Authority (TMDA) Microbiology laboratory for identification and confirmation by PCR. The confirmed isolates were used for susceptibility testing to establish the efficacy of antifungal medicines. Results indicate that Candida albicans (54%) was the most prevalent Candida spp. among isolates collected. Among the antifungal medicines tested, Miconazole showed the highest efficacy against 229 isolates of Candida spp. with 89.2% of the isolates being susceptible. This was followed by Clotrimazole, with 79.9% and Nystatin, 79.5% of isolates were susceptible, while Voriconazole showed moderate efficacy with 68.9%. Fluconazole demonstrated the lowest efficacy among the tested antifungals with 63.3%. Both Candida albicans and non-albicans Candida spp. displayed similar susceptibility patterns. Out of the 229 Candida spp. isolates tested, 4.4% were found to exhibit multidrug resistance. Findings from this study suggest that despite the observed resistance, the majority of antifungal medicines listed in the Standard Treatment Guidelines in Tanzania remain effective and are still considered reliable for treating vaginal candidiasis.

Published in American Journal of Life Sciences (Volume 13, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajls.20251306.13
Page(s) 180-189
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Antifungal Efficacy, Candida albicans, Vaginal Candidiasis, Antifungal Resistance, Multidrug Resistance

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  • APA Style

    Mtenga, A. B., Fimbo, A. M., Shewiyo, D. H., Mwambene, S. J., Kasekwa, E. E., et al. (2025). Efficacy of Antifungal Medicines Against Clinical Isolates of Candida Species Responsible for Vaginal Candidiasis from Regional Referral Hospitals in Tanzania. American Journal of Life Sciences, 13(6), 180-189. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20251306.13

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    ACS Style

    Mtenga, A. B.; Fimbo, A. M.; Shewiyo, D. H.; Mwambene, S. J.; Kasekwa, E. E., et al. Efficacy of Antifungal Medicines Against Clinical Isolates of Candida Species Responsible for Vaginal Candidiasis from Regional Referral Hospitals in Tanzania. Am. J. Life Sci. 2025, 13(6), 180-189. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20251306.13

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    AMA Style

    Mtenga AB, Fimbo AM, Shewiyo DH, Mwambene SJ, Kasekwa EE, et al. Efficacy of Antifungal Medicines Against Clinical Isolates of Candida Species Responsible for Vaginal Candidiasis from Regional Referral Hospitals in Tanzania. Am J Life Sci. 2025;13(6):180-189. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20251306.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajls.20251306.13,
      author = {Adelard Bartholomew Mtenga and Adam Mitangu Fimbo and Danstan Hipolite Shewiyo and Saxon Joseph Mwambene and Elizabeth Erasto Kasekwa and Revocatus Evarist Makonope and Shaban Bikiz Kombo},
      title = {Efficacy of Antifungal Medicines Against Clinical Isolates of Candida Species Responsible for Vaginal Candidiasis from Regional Referral Hospitals in Tanzania},
      journal = {American Journal of Life Sciences},
      volume = {13},
      number = {6},
      pages = {180-189},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajls.20251306.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20251306.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajls.20251306.13},
      abstract = {Vaginal candidiasis, caused by Candida species affects a significant proportion of women worldwide. Although different antifungal medicines are being used to treat the infection, the emergence of resistance against these medicines have been reported. This study assessed the efficacy of antifungal medicines which are recommended for treatment in the Tanzania Standard Treatment Guidelines against clinical isolates of Candida spp. Presumptive Isolates of Candida spp. collected from Regional Referral Hospitals (RRH) were transported to the Tanzania Medicine and Medical Devices Authority (TMDA) Microbiology laboratory for identification and confirmation by PCR. The confirmed isolates were used for susceptibility testing to establish the efficacy of antifungal medicines. Results indicate that Candida albicans (54%) was the most prevalent Candida spp. among isolates collected. Among the antifungal medicines tested, Miconazole showed the highest efficacy against 229 isolates of Candida spp. with 89.2% of the isolates being susceptible. This was followed by Clotrimazole, with 79.9% and Nystatin, 79.5% of isolates were susceptible, while Voriconazole showed moderate efficacy with 68.9%. Fluconazole demonstrated the lowest efficacy among the tested antifungals with 63.3%. Both Candida albicans and non-albicans Candida spp. displayed similar susceptibility patterns. Out of the 229 Candida spp. isolates tested, 4.4% were found to exhibit multidrug resistance. Findings from this study suggest that despite the observed resistance, the majority of antifungal medicines listed in the Standard Treatment Guidelines in Tanzania remain effective and are still considered reliable for treating vaginal candidiasis.},
     year = {2025}
    }
    

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    T1  - Efficacy of Antifungal Medicines Against Clinical Isolates of Candida Species Responsible for Vaginal Candidiasis from Regional Referral Hospitals in Tanzania
    AU  - Adelard Bartholomew Mtenga
    AU  - Adam Mitangu Fimbo
    AU  - Danstan Hipolite Shewiyo
    AU  - Saxon Joseph Mwambene
    AU  - Elizabeth Erasto Kasekwa
    AU  - Revocatus Evarist Makonope
    AU  - Shaban Bikiz Kombo
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    JF  - American Journal of Life Sciences
    JO  - American Journal of Life Sciences
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    EP  - 189
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5737
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20251306.13
    AB  - Vaginal candidiasis, caused by Candida species affects a significant proportion of women worldwide. Although different antifungal medicines are being used to treat the infection, the emergence of resistance against these medicines have been reported. This study assessed the efficacy of antifungal medicines which are recommended for treatment in the Tanzania Standard Treatment Guidelines against clinical isolates of Candida spp. Presumptive Isolates of Candida spp. collected from Regional Referral Hospitals (RRH) were transported to the Tanzania Medicine and Medical Devices Authority (TMDA) Microbiology laboratory for identification and confirmation by PCR. The confirmed isolates were used for susceptibility testing to establish the efficacy of antifungal medicines. Results indicate that Candida albicans (54%) was the most prevalent Candida spp. among isolates collected. Among the antifungal medicines tested, Miconazole showed the highest efficacy against 229 isolates of Candida spp. with 89.2% of the isolates being susceptible. This was followed by Clotrimazole, with 79.9% and Nystatin, 79.5% of isolates were susceptible, while Voriconazole showed moderate efficacy with 68.9%. Fluconazole demonstrated the lowest efficacy among the tested antifungals with 63.3%. Both Candida albicans and non-albicans Candida spp. displayed similar susceptibility patterns. Out of the 229 Candida spp. isolates tested, 4.4% were found to exhibit multidrug resistance. Findings from this study suggest that despite the observed resistance, the majority of antifungal medicines listed in the Standard Treatment Guidelines in Tanzania remain effective and are still considered reliable for treating vaginal candidiasis.
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