Relationship Between Candida Albicans Fungal Colonies From the Infant’sMouth and Mother’s Nipple

Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of candidiasis in the infant’s mouthand nipple of breastfeeding mothers can have positive effects on the infant’s nutrition from the mother’smilk. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Candida albicans fungal coloniesin the infant’s oral cavities and nipples of breastfeeding mothers.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 98 breastfeeding mothers and theirhealthy infants. Samples were taken from the posterior area of the infant’s tongue and the nipple of thebreastfeeding mothers. Samples were transferred to a dextrose agar medium containing 0.05% chloramphenicolin the laboratory and were kept at 30 ° C for 48 hours and then the number of Candidacolonies was counted and recorded. The data were analyzed by SPSS 17 statistical software and t-testand Pearson correlation coefficient.

The mean number of cultured colonies from infants’ mouths and nipples of breastfeeding motherswas 64.44±42.99 and 102.62±63.56, respectively. In neonates born by cesarean section and nippleof their mothers, there were significantly more Candida colonies (P<0.05). There was a positive and significantcorrelation between the number of cultured colonies from the nipple of breastfeeding mothersand the infant’s mouth (P=0.000, r=0.796)

Candida culture was positive in more than half of the samples both in the mouth of the infantand in their mothers’ nipples.