Signs and symptoms of candidiasis vary depending on the area affected. Most candidal infections result in minimal complications such as redness, itching, and discomfort, though complications may be severe or even fatal if left untreated in certain populations. In healthy (immunocompetent) persons, candidiasis is usually a localized infection of the skin, fingernails or toenails (onychomycosis), or mucosal membranes, including the oral cavity and pharynx (thrush), esophagus, and the genitalia (vagina, penis, etc.); less commonly in healthy individuals, the gastrointestinal tract, urinary tract, and respiratory tract are sites of candida infection.

In immunocompromised individuals, "Candida" infections in the esophagus occur more frequently than in healthy individuals and have a higher potential of becoming systemic, causing a much more serious condition, a fungemia called candidemia. Symptoms of esophageal candidiasis include difficulty swallowing, painful swallowing, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.

Thrush is commonly seen in infants. It is not considered abnormal in infants unless it lasts longer than a few weeks.

Infection of the vagina or vulva may cause severe itching, burning, soreness, irritation, and a whitish or whitish-gray cottage cheese-like discharge. Symptoms of infection of the male genitalia (balanitis thrush) include red skin around the head of the penis, swelling, irritation, itchiness and soreness of the head of the penis, thick, lumpy discharge under the foreskin, unpleasant odour, difficulty retracting the foreskin (phimosis), and pain when passing urine or during sex.

Common symptoms of gastrointestinal candidiasis in healthy individuals are anal itching, belching, bloating, indigestion, nausea, diarrhea, gas, intestinal cramps, vomiting, and gastric ulcers. Perianal candidiasis can cause anal itching; the lesion can be erythematous, papular, or ulcerative in appearance, and it is not considered to be a sexually transmissible disease. Abnormal proliferation of the candida in the gut may lead to dysbiosis. While it is not yet clear, this alteration may be the source of symptoms generally described as the irritable bowel syndrome, and other gastrointestinal diseases.

Acute pseudomembranous candidiasis is a classic form of oral candidiasis, commonly referred to as thrush. Overall, this is the most common type of oral candidiasis, accounting for about 35% of oral candidiasis cases.

It is characterized by a coating or individual patches of pseudomembranous white slough that can be easily wiped away to reveal erythematous (reddened), and sometimes minimally bleeding, mucosa beneath. These areas of pseudomembrane are sometimes described as "curdled milk", or "cottage cheese". The white material is made up of debris, fibrin, and desquamated epithelium that has been invaded by yeast cells and hyphae that invade to the depth of the stratum spinosum. Due to the fact that an erythematous surface is revealed beneath the pseudomembranes, some consider pseudomembranous candidiasis and erythematous candidiasis stages of the same entity. Some sources state that if there is bleeding when the pseudomembrane is removed, then the mucosa has likely been affected by an underlying process such as lichen planus or chemotherapy. Pseudomembraneous candidiasis can involve any part of the mouth, but usually it appears on the tongue, buccal mucosae or palate.

It is classically an acute condition, appearing in infants, people taking antibiotics or immunosuppressant medications, or immunocompromising diseases. However, sometimes it can be chronic and intermittent, even lasting for many years. Chronicity of this subtype generally occurs in immunocompromised states, (e.g., leukemia, HIV) or in persons who use corticosteroids topically or by aerosol. Acute and chronic pseudomembranous candidiasis are indistinguishable in appearance.

Three main clinical appearances of candidiasis are generally recognized: pseudomembranous, erythematous (atrophic) and hyperplastic. Most often, affected individuals display one clear type or another, but sometimes there can be more than one clinical variant in the same person.

The symptoms of vaginal thrush include vulval itching, vulval soreness and irritation, pain or discomfort during sexual intercourse (superficial dyspareunia), pain or discomfort during urination (dysuria) and vaginal discharge, which is usually odourless. This can be thin and watery, or thick and white, like cottage cheese.

As well as the above symptoms of thrush, vulvovaginal inflammation can also be present. The signs of vulvovaginal inflammation include erythema (redness) of the vagina and vulva, vaginal fissuring (cracked skin), edema (swelling from a build-up of fluid), also in severe cases, satellite lesions (sores in the surrounding area). This is rare, but may indicate the presence of another fungal condition, or the herpes simplex virus (the virus that causes genital herpes).

Candidiasis may be divided into these types:

- Mucosal candidiasis

- Oral candidiasis (thrush, oropharyngeal candidiasis)

- Pseudomembranous candidiasis

- Erythematous candidiasis

- Hyperplastic candidiasis

- Denture-related stomatitis — "Candida" organisms are involved in about 90% of cases

- Angular cheilitis — "Candida" species are responsible for about 20% of cases, mixed infection of "C. albicans" and "Staphylococcus aureus" for about 60% of cases.

- Median rhomboid glossitis

- Candidal vulvovaginitis (vaginal yeast infection)

- Candidal balanitis — infection of the glans penis, almost exclusively occurring in uncircumcised males

- Esophageal candidiasis (candidal esophagitis)

- Gastrointestinal candidiasis

- Respiratory candidiasis

- Cutaneous candidiasis

- Candidial folliculitis

- Candidal intertrigo

- Candidal paronychia

- Perianal candidiasis, may present as pruritus ani

- Candidid

- Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis

- Congenital cutaneous candidiasis

- Diaper candidiasis: an infection of a child's diaper area

- Erosio interdigitalis blastomycetica

- Candidial onychomycosis (nail infection) caused by "Candida"

- Systemic candidiasis

- Candidemia, a form of fungemia which may lead to sepsis

- Invasive candidiasis (disseminated candidiasis) — organ infection by "Candida"

- Chronic systemic candidiasis (hepatosplenic candidiasis) — sometimes arises during recovery from neutropenia

- Antibiotic candidiasis (iatrogenic candidiasis)

Patients with esophageal candidiasis present with odynophagia, or painful swallowing. Longstanding esophageal candidiasis can result in weight loss. There is often concomittant thrush.

Some patients present with esophageal candidiasis as a first presentation of systemic candidiasis.

The skin typically presents as red and hot. These infections can be painful.

Pus is usually present, along with gradual thickening and browning discoloration of the nail plate.

Uncomplicated thrush is when there are less than four episodes in a year, the symptoms are mild or moderate, it is likely caused by "Candida albicans", and there are no significant host factors such as poor immune function.

Symptoms of invasive candidiasis can be confused with other medical conditions, however, the most common symptoms are fever and chills that do not improve with antibiotic treatment. Other symptoms develop as the infection spreads, depending on which parts of the body are involved.

Paronychia is a nail disease that is an often-tender bacterial or fungal infection of the hand or foot where the nail and skin meet at the side or the base of a finger or toenail. The infection can start suddenly (acute paronychia) or gradually (chronic paronychia). Paronychia is commonly misapplied as a synonym for whitlow or felon. The term is from from "para", "around" and "onukh-", "nail".

Invasive candidiasis can manifest as serious diseases including as fungemia, endocarditis, endophthalmitis, osteomyelitis, and central nervous system infections.

Esophageal candidiasis is an opportunistic infection of the esophagus by "Candida albicans". The disease usually occurs in patients in immunocompromised states, including post-chemotherapy and in AIDS. However, it can also occur in patients with no predisposing risk factors, and is more likely to be asymptomatic in those patients. It is also known as candidal esophagitis or monilial esophagitis.

Ear pain is the predominant complaint and the only symptom directly related to the severity of acute external otitis. Unlike other forms of ear infections, the pain of acute external otitis is worsened when the outer ear is touched or pulled gently. Pushing the tragus, the tablike portion of the auricle that projects out just in front of the ear canal opening, also typically causes pain in this condition as to be diagnostic of external otitis on physical examination. People may also experience ear discharge and itchiness. When enough swelling and discharge in the ear canal is present to block the opening, external otitis may cause temporary conductive hearing loss.

Because the symptoms of external otitis lead many people to attempt to clean out the ear canal (or scratch it) with slim implements, self-cleaning attempts generally lead to additional traumas of the injured skin, so rapid worsening of the condition often occurs.

Candidal intertrigo is an infection of the skin by "Candida albicans", more specifically located between intertriginous folds of adjacent skin.

Acute adenoiditis is characterized by fever, runny nose, nasal airway obstruction resulting in predominantly oral breathing, snoring and sleep apnea, Rhinorrhea with serous secretion in viral forms and mucous-purulent secretion in bacterial forms. In cases due to viral infection symptoms usually recede spontaneously after 48 hours, symptoms of bacterial adenoiditis typically persist up to a week. Adenoiditis is sometimes accompanied by tonsillitis. Repeated adenoiditis may lead to enlarged adenoids.

Adenoiditis is the inflammation of the adenoid tissue, usually caused by an infection. Adenoiditis is treated using medication (antibiotics and/or steroids) or surgical intervention.

Adenoiditis may produce cold-like symptoms. However, adenoiditis symptoms often persist for ten or more days, and often include pus-like discharge from nose.

The infection cause is usually viral. However, if the adenoiditis is caused by a bacterial infection, antibiotics may be prescribed for treatment. A steroidal nasal spray may also be prescribed in order to reduce nasal congestion. Severe or recurring adenoiditis may require surgical removal of the adenoids (adenotonsillectomy).

Candidal onychomycosis is an infection of the nail plate by fungus caused by "Candida". In one study "Candida parapsilosis" was the most common species; "Candida albicans" is also a common agent.

MOE follows a much more chronic and indolent course than ordinary acute otitis externa. There may be granulation involving the floor of the external ear canal, most often at the bony-cartilaginous junction. Paradoxically, the physical findings of MOE, at least in its early stages, are often much less dramatic than those of ordinary acute otitis externa. In later stages, there can be soft tissue swelling around the ear, even in the absence of significant canal swelling. While fever and leukocytosis might be expected in response to bacterial infection invading the skull region, MOE does not cause fever or elevation of white blood count.

Cheilitis is inflammation of the lips. This inflammation may include the perioral skin (the skin around the mouth), the vermilion border, and/or the labial mucosa. The skin and the vermilion border are more commonly involved, as the mucosa is less affected by inflammatory and allergic reactions.

It is a general term, and there are many recognized types and different causes. Cheilitis can be either acute or chronic. Most cheilitis is caused by exogenous factors such as dryness (chapping) and acute sun exposure. Patch testing may identify allergens that cause cheilitis.

Chapped lips (also cheilitis simplex or common cheilitis) are characterized by cracking, fissuring, and peeling of the skin of the lips, and are one of the most common types of cheilitis. While both lips may be affected, the lower lip is the most common site. There may also be burning or the formation of large, painful cracks when the lips are stretched. If chronic, cheilitis simplex can progress to crusting and bleeding.

Lip licking, biting, or rubbing habits are frequently involved. Paradoxically, constant licking of the lips causes drying and irritation, and eventually the mucosa splits or cracks. The lips have a greater tendency to dry out in cold, dry weather. Digestive enzymes present in saliva may also irritate the lips, and the evaporation of the water in saliva saps moisture from them.

Some children have a habit of sucking and chewing on the lower lip, producing a combination of cheilitis and sharply demarcated perioral erythema (redness).

Treatment is usually successful with barrier lubricants, such as lip salve or Vaseline. Medical grade (USP) lanolin accelerates repair of the lips, and is used in some lip repair products.

Sometimes the term "cheilitis simplex" is used as a synonym for cheilitis generally, however, exfoliative cheilitis (discussed later) is also sometimes stated to be the equivalent of chapped lips.

Rarely is any soreness associated with the condition. Apart from the appearance of the lesion, there are usually no other signs or symptoms. The typical appearance of the lesion is an oval or rhomboid shaped area located in the midline of the dorsal surface of the tongue, just anterior (in front) of the sulcus terminalis. The lesion is usually symmetric, well demarcated, erythematous and depapillated, which has a smooth, shiny surface. Less typically, the lesion may be hyperplastic or lobulated and exophytic. There may be candidal lesions at other sites in the mouth, which may lead to a diagnosis of chronic multifocal oral candidiasis. Sometimes an approximating erythematous lesion is present on the palate as the tongue touches the palate frequently. The lesion is typically 2–3 cm in its longest dimension.

Some common symptoms and signs of mastoiditis include pain, tenderness, and swelling in the mastoid region. There may be ear pain (otalgia), and the ear or mastoid region may be red (erythematous). Fever or headaches may also be present. Infants usually show nonspecific symptoms, including anorexia, diarrhea, or irritability. Drainage from the ear occurs in more serious cases, often manifest as brown discharge on the pillowcase upon waking.

An integral symptom of acute otitis media is ear pain; other possible symptoms include fever, and irritability (in infants). Since an episode of otitis media is usually precipitated by an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), there are often accompanying symptoms like a cough and nasal discharge.

Discharge from the ear can be caused by acute otitis media with perforation of the ear drum, chronic suppurative otitis media, tympanostomy tube otorrhea, or acute otitis externa. Trauma, such as a basilar skull fracture, can also lead to discharge from the ear due to cerebral spinal drainage from the brain and its covering (meninges).

Predisposing factors include smoking, denture wearing, use of corticosteroid sprays or inhalers and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. "Candida" species even in healthy people mainly colonizes the posterior dorsal tongue. Median rhombiod glossitis is thought to be a type of chronic atrophic (or erythematous) candidiasis. Microbiological culture of the lesion usually shows "Candida" mixed with bacteria.

A URI may be classified by the area inflamed.

Rhinitis affects the nasal mucosa, while rhinosinusitis or sinusitis affects the nose and paranasal sinuses, including frontal, ethmoid, maxillary, and sphenoid sinuses. Nasopharyngitis (rhinopharyngitis or the common cold) affects the nares, pharynx, hypopharynx, uvula, and tonsils generally. Without involving the nose, pharyngitis inflames the pharynx, hypopharynx, uvula, and tonsils. Similarly, epiglottitis (supraglottitis) inflames the superior portion of the larynx and supraglottic area; laryngitis is in the larynx; laryngotracheitis is in the larynx, trachea, and subglottic area; and tracheitis is in the trachea and subglottic area.