Pathogenesis of Candida albicans infection following antibiotic therapy. II. Further studies of the effect of antibiotics on the in vitro growth of Candida albicans.

Since the beginning of antibiotic therapy on a large scale, it has become apparent that quite frequently the initial infection for which the therapy was instituted has been replaced with an invasion by microorganisms which are resistant to the particular antibiotic being used (McCoy, 1954). This new process may vary from a relatively mild infestation (Sharp, 1954) to an extremely severe and possibly fatal infection (Brown et al., 1953). Candida albican is one of the more commonly encountered secondary invaders, and various theories have been offered in explanation for the means by which this fungus becomes superimposed upon the original infection (Foley and Winter, 1949; Harris, 1950; Miller, 1951; Moore, 1951; Pappenfort and Schnall, 1951; Zimmerman, 1950). Of these theories the question of the role played by direct stimulation of this yeast-like fungus by antibiotics has received considerable attention (Foley and Winter, 1949; Huppert et al., 1953; Lipnik et al., 1952; Moore, 1951; Pappenfort and Schnall, 1951; Woods et al., 1951). Huppert and Cazin (1955) have demonstrated that, of the antibiotics they tested in vitro, chlortetracycline, bacitracin, and neomycin induced an increased growth of C. albians, while penicillin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, oxytetracycline, erythromycin, magnamycin, tetracycline, and a chlortetracycline-plus-parabens preparation did not give any evidence of stimulation of this fungus. They point out, however,