The Occurrence of Monilia in Normal Stools

Abstract

The occurrenceofgreatnumbersof yeast-likefungiin the gastro-intestinal tracts of patients with various diseases has received considerable attention in the literature. Although many of the early investigators thought Monilia to be the eti ologic agent in certain diseases of the gastro-intestinal tract, more recent work would establish them in a secondary role, explaining their presence as the result of a more favorable en vironment. It has been difficult, however, to evaluate these findings because of the variety of opinions concerning the identity and frequency of Monilia to be found in the feces of normal and obviously sick people. As early as 1901, Kohlbrugge (1) found, in the feces of sprue patients, large numbers of yeasts which he considered identical with the thrush fungus, Monilia albicans. He attached little significance to this finding because of the frequent occurrence of the same fungus in other diarrheal conditions. Bahr (2), in Ceylon, found M. albicans in 58 per cent of the feces of sprue patients and cultured the same fungus from 29 per cent of stools from normal individuals. Ashford, in numerous reports from Puerto Rico (3, 4, 5, 6, 7), reported a new species of fungus, Monilia psilosis, in more than 80 per cent of feces from sprue patients, and several control series showed a maximum figure of 5.6 per cent in normal individuals. Anderson (8), in an exami nation of 175 individuals, demonstrated M. psilosis in only one case,a patientwho had theclinicalhistoryand symptoms of sprue.He isolatedyeastsfrom46percentof98normalpeople but considered them different from M. psilosis. Hannibal and