Abstract
ABSTRACTEstimations were performed on the numbers of Clostridium perfringens in 1‐ml samples of fecal specimens collected from 30 healthy aged adults. These measurements were repeated 15 times for each individual during a 16‐week period. Most of the fecal samples proved to consistently contain more than 105 C. perfringens cells and the majority of aged adults were observed to carry over 106 cells of this organism on more than eight testing occasions. Few adults were revealed to carry over 107 cells with fairly strong α‐toxigenicities without any clinical symptoms. An attempt to decrease the numbers of organisms present by continued drinking of a commercial product containing live lactobacilli resulted in failure, whilst a gradual increase in the numbers of lactobacilli and a decrease in the numbers of Bacteroides were observed. Most infants when examined for the numbers of C. perfringens in a 1‐ml portion of their fecal specimens, showed less than 102 cells of this organism and when given the Lactobacillus preparation per os exhibited a rapid increase in the numbers of lactobacilli in their intestinal contents.
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