en قارچ شناسی Mycology Research Article Research Article <span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><b>Background:</b> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/vagina-candidiasis" style="color:blue; text-decoration:none" title="Learn more about Vulvovaginal candidiasis from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages">Vulvovaginal candidiasis</a>&nbsp;(VVC) remains one of the most common infections of the female genital tract. This local study was conducted to identify the spectrum of&nbsp;<em>Candida</em><i>&nbsp;</i>species associated with VVC and recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC) using different phenotypic and genotypic methods and assess their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/antifungal-susceptibility" style="color:blue; text-decoration:none" title="Learn more about antifungal susceptibility from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages">fluconazole susceptibility</a>.<br> <b>Methods:</b> High vaginal swabs were collected from 576 patients with VVC. Swabs were subjected to KOH 10% and cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar. The species identification of&nbsp;<i>Candida</i>&nbsp;isolates was made using phenotypic methods, including the germ tube test, corn meal agar (CMA), CHROMagar Candida, and PCR-RFLP as the best genotypic methods for confirmation of <i>Candida </i>species in vulvovaginal candidiasis. Fluconazole susceptibility testing was performed using the disk diffusion method.<br> <b>Results:</b> The data were analyzed using the chi-square test. The prevalence of candidiasis was 61%. The socio-demographic profile corresponded to a woman aged 29.14 &plusmn; 4.8 years on average, pregnant (77%), diabetic (19%), with hypertension (10%), recurrent (9%), a history of fluconazole use (4%), and under 30 years of age (73%).<br> Vaginal swab cultures yielded <em>Candida</em>&nbsp;growth in 352 cases (61%).&nbsp;<em>Candida albicans</em>&nbsp;was the predominant isolated species (78%), while the most common non-<i>albicans</i> species were&nbsp;<em>C. glabrata</em>&nbsp;(14.7%), <i>C. parapsilosis </i>(4.2%), <i>C. tropicalis (2.8%), </i>and <i>C. krusei </i>(0.56%). Isolates of <i>C. glabrata and C. krusei</i> exhibited the highest rate of DDS resistance among all isolates tested.<br> <b>Conclusion</b>: <i>C. albicans</i> was the most common species. Careful periodical surveillance is needed to identify any changes in the susceptibility patterns to fluconazole with the increased use of this antifungal agent in Sayad Shirazi tertiary care hospital, Iran.</span></span><br> &nbsp; Vulvovaginal candidiasis, Epidemiology, fluconazole 34 37 http://mlj.goums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1392-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Raheleh Alhashem rahelehalhashemiir812@gmail.com 100319475328460027199 100319475328460027199 No Laboratory Sciences Research Center, Golestan University of Medical sciences, Gorgan, Iran. Seyededeh Sedigheh Hosseini hoseini.sedigheh@gmail.com 100319475328460027200 100319475328460027200 Yes Laboratory Sciences Research Center, Golestan University of Medical sciences, Gorgan, Iran.