Abstract
This study aimed to phenotypically characterize the population of Candida genus yeasts in the oral cavity of infants receiving artificial feeding and breastfeeding from their breasts of the mothers. The presence of Candida spp was detected in 35% of the 157 infants. These were distributed into three groups: exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), mixed (MF) and artificial feeding (AF); and frequency was verified according to two factors: isolation of Candida spp in the oral cavity of infants receiving EBF and MF (35.0%) and AF (67.2%) (p < 0.005); and those using bottles (67.3%) or breast alone (32.0%). Lactating women (122 mothers of newborns in EBF and MF) were also studied, together with 30 nonlactating control women; the frequency of in vitro isolation of Candida spp from the breasts was 32.8% and 13.3%, respectively. In both the oral cavity of infants and breasts of lactating women, Candida albicans was the most commonly isolated yeast. An association between the use of pacifiers and oral colonization by Candida spp was verified. Of the 40 infants who used pacifiers, colonization was identified in 70.0%. Other predisposing factors were evaluated, oral hygiene and infants who received kisses on the lips, and both showed a statistically significant difference, p < 0.01 and p < 0.02, respectively. In infants, the use of breast pads proved to be a predisposing factor (OR = 2.4) for colonization and infection of the breasts by Candida spp. In comparisons of the phenotypic identities of Candida spp isolated in the oral cavity of infants with those isolated from the breasts of their mothers, a similarity of 69.2% was determined.
Keywords
Oral candidiasis - breast candidiasis - breastfeeding
