The mycotic flora of the conjunctival sac was investigated in the following five groups:
Group I: Control. group: 60 cases.
Group II : Children group(3 to 4 Years of age) : 80 eyes.
Group III : Young adult group(40 to 70 years of age) : 60 eyes,
Group IV: Old aged group (40 to 70 years of age) : 60 eyes.
Group V: Young adult group treated with 0.5% cortisone acetate solution and 0.5%a chloramphenicol solution, q. i. d., for three weeks.: 104 eyes.
Conjunctival stroke was made at the lower conjunctival fornix of each eye and inoculated on Sabouraud´s glucose media. In group I. the cotton stick was not contacted with the conjunctiva, but the similar procedure was performed, as in the other groups, remaining in the air for the same duration to rule out air contamination. The fungi cultured for at least four weeks were identified by macroscopic appearance of the colonies and microscopic findings of the mycelia and spores.
The following results were obtained
1) No positive culture was noted in Group I. This will rule out contamination during the procedure.
2) Positive cultures were- observed in 16.2% of normal adults, and in 6.2% of normal children.
3) In steroid and antibiotic treated group, the incidence of positive cultures increased to 31.7%.
4) The fungi cultured were identified as the following eight species: Penicllium sp., Aspergillus sp.,
Mycelia sterila, Hormodendrum sp., Mucor sp., Cephalosporium sp., and Oospora sp.
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