It is imperative that pathogenic agents are identified accurately to the species
level. The implementation of automatic systems for the identification of Candida
yeasts is associated with a large number of tests performed by a given unit,
which certainly has a further impact on the price of a single test and the use
of devices. Hence, automatic systems are widely used in high-throughput
laboratories, e.g. in commercial laboratories with a wide range of activities.
Veterinary clinics with their own microbiological unit usually use classical
identification methods or semi-automatic systems based on biochemical
tests for independent interpretation of the results. Nevertheless, the increased
number of invasive procedures, inherent in prolonged hospitalization of animals,
and the use of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy, leads to the conclusion that
using automatic fungal identification systems in veterinary laboratories is only
a matter of time, and their implementation may leave the classical techniques
obsolete. This article provides an overview and discussion of automatic systems
as well as new, rapid methods of diagnosing Candida fungi. Particular attention
has been focused on Vitek YBC, Vitek 2 ID-YST, Abbot Quantum II, and Microbial
ID systems