Chairs: Ed Deshmukh-Reeves and Rebecca McHugh

Background: Oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) is the most common opportunistic infection encountered among human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients and is considered an independent predictor of immunodeficiency in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Therefore, the study aimed to determine the prevalence, antifungal susceptibility pattern, and associated factors of Candida species among HIV-positive individuals having oropharyngeal legions in Mekelle Health Facilities of Tigray, Ethiopia Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 381 HIV-positive individuals with oropharyngeal lesions from September 2017 to May 2018 Socio demographic and clinical data and oral swabs were collected from the study participants. Collected swab samples were transported to the Microbiology laboratory, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University. Data were analyzed using STATA 13. Result: A total of 240 Candida species were isolated, of which C. albican was the most predominant 151(62.9%). Among the non-albican Candida species, the most predominant species were Candida glabrata 47(19.6%) followed by Candida tropicalis 26 (10.8%) and Candida krusei 16 (6.7%), and the majority of the isolates were from HAART naïve 127(52.9%). Previous history of antifungal drug treatment (p=0.039) and TB co-infection (0.041) was significantly associated with Candida species isolation. Of the isolates, 12.9% and 9.2% showed resistance to fluconazole and ketoconazole, respectively. The lowest rate of resistance was found to nystatin, 0.8%. Conclusion: Nearly two-thirds (37.1%) of the Candida species that cause oropharyngeal legion among HIV-positive individuals in the study area were non-candida albicans. The non-candida albicans groups showed an increasing resistance to fluconazole and ketoconazole, from the azole antifungal group.