The severity of candidal infections ranges from mild to life threatening, with deep organ infections being at the more severe end of the spectrum.

• Mucocutaneous candidiasis:Thrush is characterized by white, adherent, painless, discrete or confluent patches in the mouth, on the tongue, or in the esophagus.
  • - Vulvovaginal candidiasis presents as pruritus, pain, and a vaginal discharge that may contain whitish “curds.”
  • - Other cutaneous infections include paronychia, balanitis, and intertrigo (erythematous irritation with pustules in skin folds).
  • - Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis is a heterogeneous infection of hair, nails, skin, and mucous membranes that persists despite therapy and is associated with a dysfunctional immune system.
• Deeply invasive candidiasis: These infections are most commonly due to hematogenous seeding of organs during candidemia, but they can also be due to contiguous spread of organisms after disruption of normal anatomic barriers (e.g., kidney infection associated with an indwelling urinary catheter).
  • - Nearly any organ can be infected, but the brain, chorioretina, heart, and kidneys are most commonly involved. Except in neutropenic pts, the liver and spleen are less often infected.
  • - Skin involvement manifests as macronodular lesions.
  • - Chorioretinal or skin involvement predicts a high probability of abscess formation in deep organs from generalized hematogenous seeding.