In a comparison of the reverse passive haemagglutination test (RPHA) with the direct immunofluorescent and rapid carbohydrate utilisation tests for the identification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated from clinical specimens, 315 isolates of oxidase-positive Gram-negative diplococci were tested as pure 24-hour-old subcultures and samples from 108 similar organisms were taken directly from prima...

Actively growing strains of Vibrio fetus venerealis and V. fetus intestinalis, none of which produced penicillinase, were treated with inhibitory levels of penicillin or glycine, primarily to gain insight into the differential sensitivities of the two varieties to both of these compounds. Treatments induced the accumulation of uridine nucleotide glycopeptide precursors which contained amino sug...

beta-Lactam resistance was studied in 1,072 consecutive P. mirabilis clinical strains isolated at the Clermont-Ferrand teaching hospital between April 1996 and March 1998. The frequency of amoxicillin resistance was 48.5%. Among the 520 amoxicillin-resistant isolates, three resistance phenotypes were detected: penicillinase (407 strains [78.3%]), extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (74 strains [14...

Strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which had been largely confined to hospitals and long-term care facilities, are emerging in the community. The changing epidemiology of MRSA bears striking similarity to the emergence of penicillinase-mediated resistance in S. aureus decades ago. Even though the origin (hospital or the community) of the emerging MRSA strains is not ...

The in vitro activity of nafcillin, oxacillin, and methicillin alone and in combination with gentamicin and tobramycin against 30 strains of enterococci was investigated. The penicillinase-resistant penicillins were less active than penicillin and ampicillin against the enterococci. Nafcillin was more active than oxacillin and methicillin. Sixty-six percent of strains were inhibited by nafcilli...

FEW infections can kill a human being as rapidly as acute staphylococcal endocarditis in its most fulminant form. Infections caused by penicillinase producing staphylococci have been particularly difficult to manage. Successful treatment has been 'accomplished by combinations of antibiotics, by vancomycin, and even by huge doses of penicillin G. Still, the problem of therapy remains formidable....

The changes in wall structure of a penicillinase micro-constitutive strain of Bacillus cereus (569/H/24), on exposure to penicillin, and after its removal by addition of penicillinase, have suggested the following model for the growth of the walls of these cylindrical cells. Longitudinal extension is by addition of material to a large and continuously increasing number of growing points uniform...