The Association Between Oral Candidiasis and ABO Blood Type in Infants in Kirkuk City, Iraq

Background and Aim: Candidiasis is the most prevalent mouth fungal infection.It is unclear whether variations in human ABO blood types contribute to the onset of this illness.We aimed to identify the association between blood type antigens (ABO) and oral candidiasis in infants. Materials and Methods:The specimens were taken from 110 infants with oral candidiasis symptoms, ages between 1 and 18 months, primarily from the Children's Hospital in Kirkuk City and a few outlying clinics.Direct hemagglutination technique was conducted using monoclonal antibodies against human A, B, and Rh D antigens of the blood types.Macroscopic and microscopic evaluations were also performed.Chromogenic Agar +(CAC) was used to selectively develop the isolates with characteristic of Candida spp. Results:The results showed significant difference between 72 positive infants (65%) and 38 infants without oral candidiasis (35%) (P<0.05).Most infected infants were males (67%), age groups 7-12 months (60%) with O+ (46%), A+ (26%) and Rh+ (92%) blood groups with significant differences (P<0.05).The Candida (C.) albicans scored the highest infection (85%) followed by the C. glabrata (8%), C. krusei (6%), and C. tropicalis (1%) with significant differences (P<0.05). Conclusion:The prevalence of oral candidiasis in infants was related to the impaired immune status.Most infections with these diseases were in males age ranged 7-12 months with A+, O+, and Rh+ blood groups.C. albicans recorded the highest prevalence for the oral infants' cases compared to the other studied Candida types because of the highest pathogenicity.