Abstract
The surface of a multicellular organism, exposed to the external environment, either directly or indirectly, is inhabited by a specific microbial flora. This holds true regardless of the species or environment of the multicellular organism's The microbial flora of the multicellular organism, man, will be considered. | According to Jawetz et al., (32), the microbial flora is of two types: (1) the resident flora which is normally fixed and does not change except in extreme conditions and (2) the transient flora which can be pathogenic or non-pathogenic, depending on physiological and/or environmental conditions. The latter flora will disappear after a few hours, days or weeks due to the reestablishment of the normal flora« The microbial flora of man consists of bacteria, fungi and viruses. The bacterial flora has been extensively studied due to the ease of isolation and its rapid growth. In the literature, mention of normal flora is interpreted as meaning the bacteria flora unless otherwise stated. Fungi are present but only in small numbers. | Until development of tissue culture, very little was known about the normal viral flora of man. With the development of this technic, this flora has been studied more extensively and has gained acceptance of being as important as the bacterial flora.