In recent years, the number of serious yeast
infections, particularly in the immunocompromised
patient (5), has increased significantly.
This situation has necessitated that clinical laboratories
become more proficient in their abiity
to isolate and rapidly identify yeasts of medical
importance. Traditional procedures for yeast
identification (9) are considered by many to be
technically complex and time consuming. Also,
many reagents required for identification of the
yeasts to species are not commercially available.
In 1975, the API 20C microtube system, a commercial
product (Analytab Products, Inc.) for
the identification of yeasts, was introduced. This
system miniaturized the traditional procedures
of carbohydrate fermentations and assimilations,
permitting identification of yeasts within
72 h after inoculation (2, 8, 11). Recently, this
system has undergone extensive modification.
The carbohydrate fermentation tests have been
eliminated and replaced by additional assimilation
tests. In addition, a numerical approach
with a computer-assisted system for the identification
of only clinically important yeasts has
been introduced. It was the purpose of this study
to determine whether the modified API 20C
system provides a reliable and accurate method
for the identification of medically important
yeasts.