Proceedings of Local Branches of the Society of American Bacteriologists
Abstract
CONTENT ALERTS Receive: RSS Feeds, eTOCs, free email alerts (when new articles cite this article), more» Information about commercial reprint orders: http://jb.asm.org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml To subscribe to to another ASM Journal go to: http://journals.asm.org/site/subscriptions/ EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIFTH MEETING, PHILADELPHIA COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY BUILDING, MARCH 23, 1943, PHILADELPHIA, PA. SOME RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE STUDY OF STAPHYLOCOCCI. John E. Blair. Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York, N. Y. While pigmentation and hemolysis of blood agar often accompany pathogenicity of staphylococci, they must be considered only as presumptive evidence of pathogenicity. The coagulase reaction is recognized as the property most closely associated with pathogenicity of the staphylococci. Its simplicity of performance makes it available to diagnostic laboratories as a means of distinguishing between pathogenic and non-pathogenic staphylococci. It is suggested that the serologic classification of staphylococci may be valuable in epidemiologic studies of staphylococcal infections. Toxigenic staphylococci produce characteristic clinical and cardiovascular responses when injected intravenously into rabbits. These reactions are absent when nontoxigenic strains are similarly injected. Animals may be protected from these effects by the use of antitoxin. In children and young adults toxigenic staphylococci produce an acute fulminating systemic disease which may be recognized by