[Gastrointestinal infections in children. A strategy for searching pathogenic agents].

From a bacteriological and virological study of 2056 stool samples obtained from 1595 children we have attempted to derive epidemiological arguments leading to an algorithm of coprodiagnosis. We believe that Rotavirus should be systematically searched for at any age, as it is the most frequent pathogen encountered (27% of children with positive detection). If the test is positive, no other test needs to be performed in patients staying less than 4 days in hospital.

[Development of the sensitivity to antibiotics in strains of Neisseria gonorrhea isolated in Touraine over a 5-year period].

347 Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains isolated in Touraine, France, from December 1978 to March 1984 were tested for susceptibility to seven antibiotics using an agar dilution method. Percentage of strains with a penicillin G MIC = 0.06 micrograms/ml rose from 58% in 78-80 to 69% in 82-84.

Beta-lactam susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from pelvic inflammatory disease.

Gonococci isolated in France from urethral and endocervical cultures in 12 women with pelvic inflammatory disease were similar, in their susceptibility to six beta-lactam antibiotics as determined by an agar dilution procedure, to isolates from patients with uncomplicated anogenital infections (83 patients). These data contrast with earlier study done in the United States.

[Use of the API 20E system for rapid identification of Enterobacteriaceae (six hours) (author's transl)].

The authors propose a modification of the method of use of the API 20E system permitting more rapid identification of Enterobacteriaceae within six hours (3 hours preculture and 3 hours incubation on an API 20E plate) it was possible to identify correctly 67% of 192 strains studied at species level and 75.5% studied at generic level. One may note four mistakes (2.

[Effect of haemolysin of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on Ehrlich ascites tumor cells].

Haemolysin of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exerts toxic effects upon the metabolism of Ehrlich ascitic tumor cells : morphological changes appear readily ; respiration is inhibited more slowly ; the lethal effect determined by intraperitoneal injection of tumor cells is neutralized. Inhibition with human normal sera is complete for the hemolytic action, but incomplete for the cytopathic action.

[The rate constant K37 in complement fixation tests: kinetic studies on the influenza virus-immune complex model (author's transl)].

A kinetic study of the fixation of complement by the influenza immune complex was performed, using an automatic method originally described by Vargues for use in immunobacteriology. The autoanalyser provided curves which could be transformed into a simple equation. The experimental graph of the complement fixation reaction is superposable on a model curve obtained by exponential dilurion of complement.

A new rapid method for automatic complement-fixation tests.

Several automatic methods have been described for complement-fixation tests. However, each of these methods presents some inconvenience either due to cross contamination or to limited sensitivity. The new method consists basically in separating clearly the fixation stage from the haemolytic stage by using two different sampler plates placed on the same sampler.