[Study of the role of Candida albicans infection in different infant conditions including a diaper rash (64 cases)].

The pathogenic role of Candida albicans has been determined by performing: skin scrapings, mouth swabs, faecal specimens and serology from 64 infants and very young children affected with different conditions including a napkin dermatitis, divided into 4 groups. 1) 7 patients affected with true or presumed candidiasis, 2) 53 patients with different manifestations of diaper dermatitis, 3) 3 patients with papulo-erosive dermatitis of the diaper area, 4) 1 congenital ichthosiform erythrodermia. Candida albicans is the only responsible agent of the granulomatous candidiasis, it is constant but appeared lately in acropathia enteropathica. It is one of the major agents of the trichophytoid dermatitis (2 cases out of 4 cases). Candida albicans has been recovered from the skin of 33 infants out of 53 patients affected with all types of napkin eruption (62 p. 100) and from faecal specimens of 43 patients (81 p. 100). Though Candida albicans has often been considered as an opportunistic organism, even in infants, this percentage is greatly higher than that of the normal infant that is about 4p. 100, and consequently has a real pathogenic value. Species of yeasts different from Candida albicans have been recovered from faecal specimens of 3 infants affected with papulo-erosive dermatitis of the napkin area: parapsilosis, macedoniensis, deformans which are not generally considered as pathogenic agents. Serology is positive only in 3 infants or young children affected with a real chronical candidosis: 1 granulomatous candidosis, 1 acropathia enteropathia, 1 erythrodermia, the faecal specimen of whom contained a great nomber of Candida albicans.