OnBacillus coliInfections of the Urinary Tract especially in relation to Haemolytic Organisms

Abstract

(1) Two types of B. coli are met with in urinary infections-haemolytic and non-haemolytic. Haemolytic colon bacilli are much commoner in infections in the male (72 per cent.) and non-haemolytic in the female (70 percent).(2) It was very uncommon to obtain both these types of colon bacilli associated in any particular case, or for a haemolytic infection to be followed by a non-haemolytic, or vice versa.(3) No evidence was obtained of direct relationship between the urinary haemolytic colon bacilli and those of the intestinal tract.(4) The haemolytic urinary colon bacilli were readily grouped by appropriate colon anti-sera, but this result was much less common with the non-haemolytic strains.(5) Culture media, in our experience, were of little value in the grouping of colon bacilli.(6) A haemolytic colon bacillus has not been cultivated by us from the blood stream in the human subject.(7) Two cases of acute infection were met with, caused by strongly haemolytic, but atypical, colon bacilli.(8) The blood sera from “normal” cases and from coli infections were tested for the presence of coli agglutinins. Several coli antigens were employed. A very much higher percentage of positive findings were obtained with coli cases.(9) Living colon bacilli, haemolytic and non-haemolytic, can be inoculated into rabbits in small or massive doses without serious ill-effect-in fact these animals have a remarkable tolerance for these organisms. No marked anaemia was produced by the injection of living or dead bacilli or filtered broth cultures. Agglutinins and precipitins were rapidly formed with the haemolytic strains.(10) Eenal infections in rabbits were not obtained by the injection intravenously of various strains of urinary and faecal colon bacilli.(11) Saturation agglutinin experiments showed in the majority of instances that colon anti-sera, made from non-haemolytic strains, are not desaturated by non-haemolytic colon bacilli other than autogenous strains, while with the urinary haemolytic colon anti-sera and haemolytic colon bacilli a much wider range of action is obtained.(12) Precipitins and complement fixation reactions were readily obtained with coli rabbit anti-sera and filtered beef broth coli cultures.(13) The action of No. 220 soluble mercurochrome was investigated in the treatment of coli infections of the urinary tract. This substance was found to be of definite therapeutic value, especially when employed in conjunction with vaccine therapy.