الفهرس 
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Abstract
Candida is the most common cause of fungal infections worldwide. Candidiasis is mostly limited to the skin, nails and mucous membranes. However, it can cause serious systemic or invasive infections (Zaoutis et al., 2005).
The genus Candida includes numerous medically important species such as C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. lusitaniae, C. kefyr, C. guilliermondii and C. dubliniensis (Sulivan DJ. et al., 1995). There has been an increase in infections by non-albicans Candida species (NACs) over the last few decades (Beigi et al., 2004).
Candida species are identified by different phenotypic methods including examination of their morphological features, analysis of their ability of carbohydrates assimilation and/or fermentation, and their ability of assimilating different nitrogen compounds (Johnson and Elizabeth, 2009). Other diagnostic methods include molecular techniques, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA hybridization tests and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) (Sobel and Akins., 2015).
Numerous antifungal classes are used to treat Candida infections; the polyenes, azoles, echinocandins and allylamines. These antifungals are used with varying efficacy depending on the type, site of infection and the susceptibility of different Candida species (Nyirjesy, 2008). However, resistance among previously susceptible Candida species has emerged following the expanded use of both prescribed and over-the-counter antifungal agents (Jackson et al., 2005).
Accurate identification of Candida species and antifungal susceptibility testing are important to limit the rise of resistant Candida species (El-Ganiny et al., 2021). Antifungal susceptibility testing methods including broth dilution, disk diffusion and E test are now available with species-specific breakpoints developed by The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) for multiple antifungal agents (CLSI; M60-ED2., 2020).
Accurate identification of Candida species offers therapeutic and prognostic impact and enables the selection of appropriate antifungal agents by clinicians. In the Suez Canal region, no sufficient up to date studies were performed to identify Candida species and their antifungal susceptibility patterns. The current study aimed to identify the different Candida species isolated from various clinical specimens in Suez Canal University hospitals, using different phenotypic