Summary. Studies on the prevalence of tinea pedis, a frequently encountered dermatophytic infection, have been conducted mostly in swimmers although people who regularly practise other types of physical activities may also have a high rate of clinical or subclinical infection. This investigation was undertaken to establish the rate of infection in marathon runners, and to determine the incidence of occult athlete's foot disease in this population. Among samples obtained from 405 individuals, 22% were positive. The rate of infection was highest in the older age groups. The prevalence of infection was 24.2% in men and 6.1% in women. Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes were the two species of dermatophytes most commonly isolated on culture. Occult athlete's foot disease represented 48% of cases with a positive culture. Finally, routine sampling of both feet was confirmed necessary to adequately establish the rate of infection: 26.9% of cases with a positive culture would have been missed by unilateral sampling. Other epidemiological factors were not clearly linked to the prevalence of disease in marathon runners: weight; presence of pet animals; practice of other sports; race and country of origin. In conclusion, we established that marathon runners represent a population at risk for the occurrence of both clinical and subclinical tinea pedis infection. Zusammenfassung. Untersuchungen über das Vorkommen von Tinea pedis, einer häufig erwor‐benen Dermatophyten‐Infektion, wurden bisher meist an Schwimmern durchgeführt, obwohl Per‐sonen, die regelmäßig andere körperliche Aktivi‐täten betreiben, ebenfalls häufig klinisch oder subklinisch befallen sein können. Die vorliegende Untersuchung wurde zur Aufklärung der Infekt‐häufigkeit bei Marathonläufern durchgeführt, insbesondere um auch die Häufigkeit subklinischer Infektionen zu bestimmen. Unter den von 405 Probanden gesammelten Untersuchungspro‐ben waren 22% positiv. Die Infektrate war höher in den höheren Altersgruppen. Die Häufigkeit bei Männern betrug 24.2%, bei Frauen 6.1%. Trichophyton rubrum und T. mentagrophytes waren die weitaus am häufigsten kulturell nachgewiese‐nen Dermatophyten. Der Anteil subklinischer Infektionen mit positiver Kultur betrug 48%. Die Notwendigkeit, zur adäquaten epidemiologischen Erhebung stets beide Füße zu untersuchen, wurde bestätigt: bei nur unilateraler Inspektion wären 26.9% der Fälle nicht erkannt worden. Andere epidemiologische Faktoren waren nicht eindeutig mit der Infekthäufigkeit korreliert, darunter Gewicht, Kontakt mit Haustieren, Betreiben anderer Sportarten, Rasse und Herkunftsland.

The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) and the serotypes were determined for 666 strains of Candida albicans isolated from white patients in Canada. Of these strains, 495 (74.3%) were serotype A and 71 (25.7%) were serotype B. Resistance to 5-FC (MIC, greater than or equal to 25 microgram/ml) was observed in 11.3% of the serotype A strains and in 49.7% of the strains of serotype B. Most specimens were from the urogenital and respiratory tracts. The results showed the difference between the distribution of the two serotypes of C. albicans in North America and that in Europe. Serotyping of C. albicans strains by indirect immunofluorescence is a rapid means of predicting the de novo sensitivity of this year to 5-FC. The specificity of this technique for the isolated strains was approximately 79%.

Athlete's foot is a dermatophytic infection frequently found in adults. This disease is, in some cases, asymptomatic. In order to evaluate the incidence of subclinical infection, we obtained 300 toe-web samples from the fourth interdigital space of 150 regular swimmers. More over, 66 specimens from the pool area were analysed. The method used was the carpet technique described by Mariat et al. (10). The fungal isolates were identified according to standard methods. A list of epidemiological data was completed for every swimmer. In our results, 22 swimmers had positive cultures (15%), 8 of these cases had no lesions (36%). They included 7 infections with Trichophyton mentagrophytes (87.5%) and one with T. rubrum (12.5%). We observed one case with a dual infection. Only one sample from the inanimate environment was positive. This study showed a significant incidence of occult athlete's foot in swimmers. To control this endemic problem, adequate preventive measures must be taken.

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The capacity of Candida albicans to produce germ tubes in a simple medium is analysed as a function of the pH variation, the bacterial supernatant and the addition of differing concentrations of various species of bacteria.