| Abstrakt: |
To the Editor.—In the recent contribution by Brinton et al,1 I was most disappointed to see that the simplest of procedures was omitted from their evaluation of the discovery of the etiologic agent of this outbreak—that is, simple mold cultures of the ambient air. It seems that the authors were somewhat unfamiliar with the vast spectrum of diseases caused by molds. Literally hundreds of mold species are present in the environment, any one of which in high concentrations certainly could cause an immunologic inflammatory reaction in man. Their evaluation of the etiologic agents seemed too limited, especially in view of the fact that patients did not react to "an extract of the straw." Comprehensive ambient air testing for mold could be performed very easily by exposing Sabouraud's or potato dextrose agar in the fraternity residence, and plates could be evaluated by a qualified mycologist for completeness. |
