The Incidence of Monilias in Human Fæces

Ashford (1917) and a number of subsequent workers regarded monilias, particularly Monilia psilosis, as the cause of sprue. Several species of the genus Monilia have been implicated in the causation of sprue and this disease was at one time regarded as moniliasis of the digestive tract. Although the result of recent work has shown that this view is no longer justifiable, there is a tendency for some authors of books on tropical diseases to ascribe a certain role, often secondary, to these fungi in the causation of sprue. Mackie and Chitre (1928) in Bombay examined the stools of 71 sprue cases and of 76 individuals who were not suffering from sprue for the presence of monilia. These workers found monilia as frequently in other intestinal diseases and in healthy men as in sprue, and concluded that there was no evidence to show that any of the yeasts studied by them had any causative relation to sprue. It was thought desirable to repeat this work in Calcutta. Stools from healthy individuals and from individuals suffering from diseases other than sprue were examined for the presence of monilia. The methods employed were similar to those used by Mackie and Chitre and consisted in the isolation of the yeast on Sabouraud's medium. An attempt was made to classify into different species, the monilias isolated, but the results obtained after a study of 40 strains were so confusing that it was thought that no useful purpose would be served by proceeding with the identification of the individual species. The results of this examination are given below Total number of individuals examined = 220 Number of individuals from whom various species of monilia were isolated = 144 or 65 per cent (A) According to race and diet. (1) Number of Indians on Indian diet examined = 146 Number from whom ,