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The occurrence of pulmonary aspergillosis and of precipitins, positive skin tests, and sputum containing abundant Aspergillus fumigatus has been assessed and correlated in a survey of 107 consecutive patients attending hospital in Bristol with various chronic chest diseases. The series included three with aspergilloma, five with allergic aspergillosis, and one with chronic invasive aspergillosis. Of 46 asthmatic patients, 11 % had definite and 22 % had probable or definite allergic aspergillosis.Seven patients (15%) in the asthmatic group were found to have chronic upper lobe contraction, probably attributable to long-standing allergic aspergillosis. One of these patients developed aspergilloma, and another, invasive aspergillosis.The significance of precipitins is discussed, based on the survey patients together with 21 additional patients who had aspergillosis but were from outside the survey. In the survey patients without definite aspergillosis, precipitins and positive sputum were significantly associated and were found most commonly in patients with asthma, bronchiectasis, or cavitated lungs. Two patients with invasive aspergillosis who had weak precipitins are reported. We think that precipitins reflect recent or continuing fungal growth in body tissues or within damaged bronchi, and that their presence can be a useful indication of occult fungal colonization, which might rarely become invasive if host resistance were lowered as by steroids.Allergic aspergillosis is a more common condition and a more frequent cause of upper lobe damage than has been appreciated.

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Summary: Skin scrapings, mouth swabs, and faecal specimens from children with eruptions in the napkin area and from a series of normal infants were examined for the presence of Candida albicans.This was found in 41% of all napkin eruptions but in only one of the 68 normal infants. While C. albicans is a common secondary invader of all types of napkin eruption, primary candida infection of the skin in the napkin area is probably uncommon.No evidence was found that generalized psoriasiform or eczematous eruptions occurring in association with napkin rashes are due t an allergic response to the fungus. C. albicans is more likely to be present in a napkin rash if the organism has been found in the alimentary tract. IntroductionFour main types of napkin eruption are usually described, and include the common napkin rash due mainly to irritation by ammonia, seborrhoeic (intertriginous) eczema, a psoriasislike eruption (napkin psoriasis), and an eruption reported as a primary Candida albicans infection. C. albicans is well recognized as an opportunist organism growing where general and local conditions are favourable, and among these conditions moisture and a pre-existing skin disorder are important. C. albicans has been recovered from the alimentary tract of up to 31 % of infants under the age of 9 months (Beare, Cheeseman, and Mackenzie, 1968), and it is therefore not surprising that the organism has been isolated from napkin rashes of all types. When so discovered C. albicans may well be accepted as having a primary role in the napkin eruption, and psoriasiform or eczematous lesions which may develop in other sites of the body have often been considered to be either a spread of the infection or an allergic response to the fungus.In the present investigation we compare the prevalence of C. albicans infection of the skin and alimentary tract in children with different patterns of napkin eruption and in a series of normal controls. Our purpose was to determine, firstly, whether infections of the skin in the napkin area by C. albicans were more likely to be primary or secondary in origin, and, secondly, whether there is any evidence for a causal relationship between C. albicans infection and generalized psoriasiform or eczematous eruptions. MaterialThe cases included in the investigation were either referred by their doctors to the dermatological outpatient department of one of the Bristol hospitals or were attending certain of the local authority's child welfare clinics. Very little further selection was made. All children with a napkin eruption who attended the dermatological clinic at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children during the period of the investigation were included. Occasionally in child welfare clinics time did not permit the inclusion of some children with a napkin rash, but this happened only rarely.

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SUMMARY A description is given of the use of a drill for obtaining nail samples for fungal culture in cases of onychomycosis. The nail dust produced by the drill is collected by suction into a bag, and used to inoculate culture plates. Nail dust was found to be greatly superior to clippings for the successful culture of both dermatophytes and non‐dermatophytes. Possible reasons for this are discussed and it is suggested that in dermatological practice a drill should be used for sampling nails where attempts to culture from clippings have failed.

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