Abstract

Fungal infection and antifungal drug resistance especially in the treatment of immuno suppressive syndromes, has created an increased demand for reliable and affordable methods of in vitro testing of antifungal agents that can assist in their diagnosis. This study aimed to investigate antifungal susceptibility testing method that is reliable, flexible, affordable, accurate, cheap and less time consuming in order to reduce the prevalence of antifungal drug resistance using the plasma micro broth dilution assay. Results show differences in the performances of the agar dilution, plasma micro-broth dilution assay and disc diffusion test methods of ketoconazole susceptibility testing using Candida albicans with respect to time, cost and reliability. Therefore, development of an in vitro antifungal susceptibility testing method that will allow the clinical laboratory to perform with some confidence is imminent.

Key words: Plasma micro broth, antifungal, Candidas albican, in vitro.