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Because mortality from candidemia is substantial, early antifungal therapy is essential. Blood culture has been the diagnostic gold standard but typically requires 2 to 3 days to become positive. Among newer molecular methods, T2Candida, which combines polymerase chain reaction with a magnetic assay of whole blood samples, can detect five of the most common Candida species in a few hours.
In a 14-center clinical trial in the U.S. funded by the manufacturer and conducted between March 2012 and August 2013, 152 patients with candidemia by diagnostic blood culture were included. Once the initial blood culture was found to be positive, a repeat blood culture and whole blood for T2Candida testing were obtained. The latter was sent to a central si…