Not long after birth, yeast, predominantly Candida albicans, colonizes the
epithelium of oral cavity and the whole gastrointestinal tract. C. albicans
lives in yeast, a non-harming form, as a commensal member of the microbial
flora, but may turn into patho?gen infective form under certain conditions
that encourage its overgrowth. In this phase, it may damage the intestinal
wall and enter the bloodstream, causing invasive candidiasis with high
mortality rate. It is essential to recognize candidaemia and start the
lifesaving therapy on time. Recognizing the risk factors which allow candida
to overgrow is the most important step in preventing candida?s overgrowth
and chronic candidiasis, the previous status of invasive candidiasis. If
this recognition is missed, and the overgrowth advances, a question remains
how to discover and treat it and in which phase it should be done. A stool
culture requires time and proves the presence of live yeast cells only. If
the live yeast cells are not present in the stool, the result of the culture
will be negative. In this paper, the author presents her experience of
stool analysis under dark-field microscope, as a rapid, easy to carry out
method for detecting the presence of live or dead yeast cells and yeast
overgrowth.