The Bacteriological Examinations of the Faeces in Four Cases of Typhoid Fever, made at frequent intervals for a period of one month

Abstract

1. The appearance and disappearance of typhoid bacilli in the faeces in these four cases bore no relation to changes in the diet nor to the physical state of the stools, but the later they appeared the shorter was the duration of their appearance.On the disappearance of typhoid bacilli from the stools the intestinal flora tended to become more simple.2. B. coli was the only organism invariably present at every examination.3. Streptococci were very much more abundant in the earlier stages of the disease, when milk formed the greater part of the diet, than in the later stages.4. In two cases where boils occurred on the body the causative organism had previously been isolated in large numbers from the faeces.5. With stools slightly alkaline to litmus the flora in these cases was relatively simple and fermentative in type. There is no apparent advantage, therefore, in giving a high carbohydrate diet except in cases of marked alkalinity and putrefaction.