CHAPTER XIV 

 THRUSH 



OiDiuM Albicans (Robin) 



Thrush, Soor (German), Muguet (French), or parasite stomatitis 

 is an affection of marasmatic infants and adults characterized by the 

 occurrence of peculiar whitish patches upon an inflamed oral mucous 

 membrane. The white of the patches consists of material that is not 

 easily removed, but which when detached leaves a bleeding surface 

 upon which it forms again. Upon microscopic examination the white 

 substance proves to be composed of masses of mycelia with enlarged 

 epithelial cells and leukocytes. The affection is far more frequent 

 in children than in adults. It seems not to occur among healthy 

 children, but among those suffering from marasmus, and particu- 

 larly among those whose mouths have already become sore through 

 neglect. It is usually confined to the mouth, but may spread to the 

 pharynx, to the larynx, in rare cases to the esophagus, in very rare 

 cases to the stomach and intestines, and in exceptional cases, both in 

 adults and children, may become a generalized disease through 

 hematogenous distribution, and be attended by mycotic inflamma- 

 tory lesions in the kidneys, the liver, and the brain. 



The specific micro-organism seems to have been discovered in 1839 

 by Langenbeck* and Berg.f Langenbeck missed the significance of 

 the organism altogether, for, finding it in a case of typhoid fever, he 

 conceived it to be the cause of that disease. Berg, on the other hand, 

 regarded it as the cause of the thrush. Robin} furnished the first 

 correct description of the organism and gave it its name, Oidium 

 albicans. Many systematic writers have exercised themselves con- 

 cerning the exact place in the botanical system in which the organisms 

 should be placed. Thus, Gruby and Heim regarded it as a sporo- 

 trichum; Robin, as an oidium; Quinquaud, as a syringospora; 

 Hallein called it Stemphylium polymorpha; Grawitz, as Myco- 

 derma vini; Plaut, as Monilia Candida; Guidi, Ress, Brebeck-Fischer, 

 as a saccharomyces; Laurent, as Dematium albicans; Linossier and 

 Roux, as a mucor, and Alav, Olsen, and VuUlemin, as Endomyces 

 albicans. The matter is still undecided and until it is finally agreed 

 upon it seems best to resort to the original name, Oidium albicans. 



Morphology. — The organism consists of elements that bear a close 

 resemblance to yeast cells and multiply by budding, of hyphae and 



* See Kehrer, "Ueber den Soorpilz," etc., Heidelberg, 1883. 

 t See Behrend, "Deutsche med. Wochenschrift," 1890. 



j"Histoire naturelle des vegetaux parasites qui croissent sur I'homme et 

 sur les animaux vivants," Paris, 1853. 



'438 



