One-hundred and five Candida albicans isolates from various anatomic sites of 28 patients, obtained at the onset of two consecutive episodes of well-documented recurrent vulvovaginitis, were typed by methods relying on physiologic or genomic markers. The isolates represented a wide variety of types, and neither a single biotype nor genotype was associated with recurrent vaginitis or a particular body site. Patients generally carried similar strains at various anatomic sites that persisted over time. Genomic methods indicated an 86% rate of relapse, which suggested that most recurrent vaginal infections are of endogenous origin. A similar evaluation with biotyping methods was inconclusive because of a lack of reproducibility, resulting from clonal variation or switching, and difficulties in establishing the number of phenotypic tests necessary to distinguish between identical and different strains. Therefore, Southern hybridization was considered the ideal reference method to study the epidemiology of C. albicans infections.

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.

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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%.