Abstract
SUMMARY Preliminary observations are reported on the use of phage pools for the group and species diagnosis of enterococci together in one test. Three principal pools were used, namely: (1) pool of 20 phages for group diagnosis, (2) pool of 17 phages for Streptococcus faecalis species diagnosis and (3) pool of 3 phages for S. faecium diagnosis. By this method, 171 of 175 strains of enterococci isolated in the clinical laboratory (97.7%) were identified. A collection of standard group D strains showed different sensitivities according to species. The separate pools of phages for S. faecalis and for S. faecium can be used to distinguish between members of these two species, but this test is at present rather less sensitive than the test with the 20-phage pool.
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