FATAL FUNGUS INFECTIONS COMPLICATING ANTIBIOTIC THERAPY

Abstract

For many years Candida albicans has been known to cause local infection in the mouth, skin, nails, and vagina. In the past such lesions have shown little tendency to spread and have rarely been fatal.1Recently, however, there has been a noticeable increase in the frequency with which fungi, particularly C. albicans, have produced generalized and fatal infections. The importance of this change has not been universally accepted,2although many clinical and laboratory reports have appeared warning of the increased virulence of C. albicans during antibiotic therapy.3We wish to emphasize this warning by reporting three additional cases of fatal fungus infection. REPORT OF CASES Case 1. —A 47-year-old dentist was first admitted to the Albany Hospital on Sept. 30, 1950. For about a year, the patient had suffered from abscessed teeth. Three weeks before admission, he had contracted a respiratory infection characterized by fever, cough, brownish