Keratomycosis in Lucknow.

Virchow first introduced the term mycosis for fungal infections. Leber (I 870) first described a case ofkeratomycosis due to Aspergillus and first established an early clinical diagnosis by mycological methods. Since his report more than thirty species of saprophytic fungi have been identified as causative agents of keratomycosis. A review of the literature for the last 20 years shows an increase in the incidence of fungal infections all over the world (Chick and Conant, I 962; Gingrich and Pinkerton, I 962). Nauman, Green, and Zimmerman (i 967) reported a 1s-fold increase in fungal infection. Agarwal and Khosla (i963) reported six cases, whereas Mitsui and Hanabusa (I955) had reported only four. Having recently encountered cases ofcorneal ulcers which were resistant to the usual antibiotic and supportive therapy and showed a tendency to progress, we undertook mycological studies to find out the role of normal existing saprophytic fungi in the conjunctival flora in such ulcers.