None of us are ever truly alone. Our bodies are home to untold numbers of microbes, chilling on our skin, in our guts, throughout our respiratory tract, inside our bellybuttons, under our fingernails, and beyond. For the most part, we live in harmony with these critters, never giving them a second thought. But occasionally, they may grow a bit too friendly, taking advantage of our hospitality to grow and spread with abandon. Candida yeasts are especially fond of this tactic, leading to millions of infections around the globe each year, many of which can cause significant illness or even death. In this episode, we explore the characteristics of these yeasts that make them so prone to overgrowth, how severe infections can develop, and why one of medicine’s greatest achievements may have helped usher in this new fungal era.
| History | Biology |
| Rippon, John Willard. Medical mycology; the pathogenic fungi and the pathogenic actinomycetes. 1982. | Lass-Flörl, C., Kanj, S.S., Govender, N.P., Thompson III, G.R., Ostrosky-Zeichner, L. and Govrins, M.A., 2024. Invasive candidiasis. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 10(1), p.20. |
| Homei, Aya, and Michael Worboys. “Fungal disease in britain and the united states 1850-2000: Mycoses and modernity.” (2013). | Lopes, J.P. and Lionakis, M.S., 2022. Pathogenesis and virulence of Candida albicans. Virulence, 13(1), pp.89-121. |
| Anderson, John A., et al. “Candidiasis hypersensitivity syndrome: approved by the executive committee of the American academy of allergy and immunology.” Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 78.2 (1986): 271-273. | Daneshnia, F., de Almeida Júnior, J.N., Ilkit, M., Lombardi, L., Perry, A.M., Gao, M., Nobile, C.J., Egger, M., Perlin, D.S., Zhai, B. and Hohl, T.M., 2023. Worldwide emergence of fluconazole-resistant Candida parapsilosis: current framework and future research roadmap. The Lancet Microbe, 4(6), pp.e470-e480. |
| Dismukes, William E., et al. “A randomized, double-blind trial of nystatin therapy for the candidiasis hypersensitivity syndrome.” New England Journal of Medicine 323.25 (1990): 1717-1723. | Ratner, J.C., Wilson, J., Roberts, K., Armitage, C. and Barton, R.C., 2025. Increasing rate of non-Candida albicans yeasts and fluconazole resistance in yeast isolates from women with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis in Leeds, United Kingdom. Sexually Transmitted Infections, 101(1), pp.21-26. |
| Drummond, Rebecca A., et al. “Long-term antibiotic exposure promotes mortality after systemic fungal infection by driving lymphocyte dysfunction and systemic escape of commensal bacteria.” Cell host & microbe 30.7 (2022): 1020-1033. | Chow, N.A., Gade, L., Tsay, S.V., Forsberg, K., Greenko, J.A., Southwick, K.L., Barrett, P.M., Kerins, J.L., Lockhart, S.R., Chiller, T.M. and Litvintseva, A.P., 2018. Multiple introductions and subsequent transmission of multidrug-resistant Candida auris in the USA: a molecular epidemiological survey. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 18(12), pp.1377-1384. |
| Peroumal, Doureradjou, et al. “Commensal fungus Candida albicans maintains a long-term mutualistic relationship with the host to modulate gut microbiota and metabolism.” Microbiology Spectrum 10.5 (2022): e02462-22. | Denning, D.W., Kneale, M., Sobel, J.D. and Rautemaa-Richardson, R., 2018. Global burden of recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis: a systematic review. The Lancet infectious diseases, 18(11), pp.e339-e347. |
| San Juan Galán, J., Poliquin, V. and Gerstein, A.C., 2023. Insights and advances in recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis. PLOS pathogens, 19(11), p.e1011684. | |
| Thompson, G.R., Soriano, A., Honore, P.M., Bassetti, M., Cornely, O.A., Kollef, M., Kullberg, B.J., Pullman, J., Hites, M., Fortún, J. and Horcajada, J.P., 2024. Efficacy and safety of rezafungin and caspofungin in candidaemia and invasive candidiasis: pooled data from two prospective randomised controlled trials. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 24(3), pp.319-328. |
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One thought on “Episode 188 Candida yeast: Here, there, and everywhere”
Interesting episode! Just noting that boric acid suppositories are actually widely available over the counter in the US and are a great for both yeast infections and BV 🙂
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