SULFONAMIDE-FAST PNEUMOCOCCI. A CLINICAL REPORT OF TWO CASES OF PNEUMONIA TOGETHER WITH EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PENICILLIN AND TYROTHRICIN AGAINST SULFONAMIDE-RESISTANT STRAINS

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Abstract
From 2 patients having pneumonia and bac-teremia, strains of pneumococci (Types I and VIII) were isolated which caused infections, in mice, that were totally refractory to treatment with sulfadiazine. The clinical course of the patients and the clinical laboratory data (blood cultures and levels of sulfonamides in blood) also indicated the drug-resistant characteristics of the infection. Both patients responded rapidly and successfully to specific serum therapy. In exptl. observations, penicillin proved highly effective against infections in mice caused by either sulfonamide-resistant or susceptible strains. When tyrothricin in single doses was used for treatment of mice, the protection was not uniformly complete against any one of the strains. However, no evidence was obtained that sulfonamide resistance influenced the effect of tyrothricin. It was not possible to demonstrate that the drug-resistance of the patients'' strains was due to the production of inhibiting substances. By contrast, cultures of an additional strain of Type I pneumococcus (MacLeod) were found to yield considerable amts. of inhibitor.