Candidiasis is a prototypic opportunistic disease of the compromised host caused by yeasts of genus Candida. Species of Candida normally live communally with human or animal hosts. Conditions which predispose the individual to the development of candidiasis vary but can be broadly categorized as nonimmugenic, e.g., diabetes, trauma, pregnancy, antibiotic therapy, and hyper-alimentation, or immunologic, e.g., malignancies of the immune system, or immunosuppressive therapy. Currently of particular interest, is the association of oral and esophageal candidiasis with AIDS.

Although different species of Candida can be shown to be the causative agents of various clinical forms of candidiasis, only two species C. albicans and C. tropicalis are responsible for majority of cases and C. albicans is the primary species involved in the disease.

C. albicans causes two distinct forms of the disease namely, superficial and systemic. The superficial infection is generally not life threatening, while the systemic form has a high mortality rate.

Cytoplasmic antigen of C.albicans has been used extensively to detect humoral response to C. albicans. Micro Detect CANDIDA DETECT IgG, IgM, and IgA assays are qualitative Enzyme Immunoassays (EIAs) for the detection of antibodies against C. albicans in human serum