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 pecuUar 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 myceha with en- 

 larged epithelial cells and leukocytes. The affection is far more fre- 

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

 healthy children, but among those suffering from marasmus, and 

 particularly 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 in- 

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



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

 byLangenbeck* 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 f furnished the first 

 correct description of the organism and gave it its name, O'idium 

 albicans. Many systematic writers have exercised themselves con- 

 cerning the exact place in the botanical system in which the organ- 

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

 sporotrichum; 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 Vuillemin, 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 Soorprlz," etc., Heidelberg, 1883. 

 tSee Behrend, "Deutsche med. Wochenschrift," 1890. 



{"Histoire naturelle des vegetaux parasites qui croissent sur rhomme et 

 sur les animaux vivants," Paris, 1853. 



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