Three Years of Epidemiological Surveillance of Candida in a Romanian Pulmonology Hospital Reveal an Increase in Fluconazole-Resistant Non-Albicans Species: A One-Centre Retrospective Study

Background

Candida species are among the most frequently isolated fungi from respiratory specimens in hospitalised patients, yet the clinical significance of their presence—infection versus colonisation, treatment versus observation—remains an unresolved challenge in clinical microbiology. Data from dedicated pulmonology centres in Eastern Europe are scarce. This study aimed to characterise the three-year epidemiology, species distribution, temporal trends, colony-load profiles, and longitudinal mycological trajectories of fungal respiratory isolates at a Romanian tertiary pulmonology hospital.