OBJECTIVETo investigate the candidal carriage and the Candida species in HIV positive patients and to explore the relationship between oral candidal carriage and oral candidiasis.

METHODSSixty-four HIV positive patients and 42 healthy controls were included in this study. Oral rinse technique was used to detect the candidal carriage. The isolates were identified using multiple measures, including Gram staining reaction, chlamydospore, pseudo-hyphal and hyphal production test, CHROMagar Candida test and API 20 C AUX yeast identification system.

RESULTSThirty-nine of 64 HIV positive cases were diagnosed as oral candidiasis. Seventy-four Candida strains were isolated from 52 of 64 HIV positive cases, only 7 strains were isolated from 42 healthy controls (P < 0.001). Of the 74 Candida strains isolated from HIV positive cases, 39 were Candida albicans, 15 Candida tropicalis, and 20 other 6 species.

CONCLUSIONSA high prevalence of oral candidiasis and high candidal carriage were found in HIV positive patients compared with those in controls. Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis were the major species. The biotyping of the species isolated from HIV positive patients showed more diversified compared to healthy people, which may suggest the decreased immune ability of the HIV positive patients.