Objective. To examine whether Gram staining can influence the choice of antibiotic for the treatment of peritonsillar abscess. Methods. Between 2005 and 2009, a total of 57 cases of peritonsillar abscess were analyzed with regard to cultured bacteria and Gram staining. Results. Only aerobes were cultured in 16% of cases, and only anaerobes were cultured in 51% of cases. Mixed growth of aerobes ...

The detection of thermonuclease activity in 86 blood culture samples containing gram-positive cocci showed 100% correlation with the subsequent identification of the isolate as Staphylococcus aureus by the coagulase test. No positive thermonuclease results were found with 66 samples containing coagulase-negative staphylococci and 56 samples containing other gram-positive organisms. The thermonu...

The first vancomycin-resistant clinical isolates of Enterococcus species were reported in Europe in 1988. Similar strains were later detected in hospitals on the East Coast of the United States. Since then, vancomycin-resistant enterococci have spread with unexpected rapidity and are now encountered in hospitals in most countries. This article reviews the mode of action and the mechanism of bac...

Tests with 2,713 bacterial isolates (members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and gram-positive cocci) from 14 laboratories compared cefoxitin MICs with cefotetan MICs. Strains that were susceptible to cefoxitin could be assumed to be susceptible to cefotetan. Over half of the cefoxitin-resistant isolates of the Enterobacteriaceae were susceptible to cefotetan.