STAPHYLOCOCCI IN NOSES AND STREPTOCOCCI IN THROATS OF ISOLATED AND SEMI-ISOLATED ANTARCTIC COMMUNITIES.

Abstract

The Antarctic provides unusually simplified conditions for the study of the persistence and exchange of micro-organisms of the upper respiratory tract. The work reported here was done while the author was in the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey and the United States Antarctic Research Program.Staph, aureus and Staph, albus persisted in the noses, and a-haemolytic streptococci in the throats of men throughout long periods of isolation and semi-isolation in Antarctica.On the whole, men kept their own strains (phage types) of Staph, aureus despite living in very close contact with each other.Persistent carriers of Staph, aureus (90% or more positive swabs per individual) continued to carry this organism for as long as 2 years in Antarctica. Data from men at Wilkes and Hallett IGY Stations indicated that there was a decrease in the intermittent and occasional carrier rates, resulting in a much lower total carrier rate after 12 months Antarctic isolation.Evidence is presented to suggest that β-haemolytic streptococci had disappeared from throats after 12 months of isolation. It is thought that the absence of upper respiratory infections in these communities is due to absence of the bacterial or viral agents.There is an urgent need for further work on the carriage of micro-organisms in the present unique epidemiological conditions of the Antarctic, and for better laboratory facilities there.