Hand Carriage of Yeast in Student of Medicine, Nursing, and Medical Laboratory Science: Impact of Infection Control Measures

We studied yeast hand carriage of 260 healthcare students. We isolated yeasts in 27 students (10.4%), without differences between medicine, nursing, and medical laboratory science programs and gender. A significant lower prevalence of carriage was shown in the clinical cycle (2.7%) compared to the basic cycle (13.5%) (<i>p</i> = 0.022) and the preclinical cycle (13.5%) (<i>p</i> = 0.014). Increased handwashing frequency and the use of alcohol gel and antiseptic soap decreased yeast carriage. Students who applied moisturizing hand cream two or more times a day had a lower frequency of yeast carriage (3.4%) than those who did not use it or used it once a day (16.5%), showing a significant difference (<i>p</i> = 0.016). The most prevalent species was <i>C. parapsilosis sensu stricto</i> (81.5%), followed by <i>Meyerozyma guilliermondii</i> (<i>C. guillermondii</i>) (7.4%), <i>Trichosporon mucoides</i> (7.4%), and <i>R. mucilagenosa</i> (3.7%). One case showed mixed carriage of <i>C. parapsilosis</i> and <i>C. albicans</i>. All strains were sensitive to voriconazole, caspofungin, and anidulafungin. This study shows hand carriage of yeast in health students, mainly by <i>C. parapsilosis</i>, and the frequency of infection control measures and moisturizing hand cream is associated with colonization control.