[Toxoplasma infestation: prevalence, risk of congenital infection and development in Geneva from 1973 to 1987]. / Infestation toxoplasmique: prévalence, risque d'infection congénitale et évolution à Genève de 1973 à 1987.

Assessment of the risk of toxoplasma infection during pregnancy in the female population of the Geneva area, and of the risk of congenital toxoplasmosis, has shown 9 cases of toxoplasmosis for 1000 pregnancies and 3.5 congenital infections for 1000 newborn infants. These results show that the prevalence of toxoplasma infection has been decreasing constantly during the 15 years of study, but that the risk of infection during pregnancy and of congenital infection has remained steady.

[Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria: epidemiologic importance and current pathogenicity]. / Mycobactéries non tuberculeuses: importance épidémiologique et pathogénique actuelle.

The non-tuberculosis mycobacteria are reviewed, with emphasis on the epidemiological and pathogenic importance of these organisms when the prevalence of tuberculosis diminishes. The increasing proportion of weak reactions to human tuberculin observed between 1975 and 1981 among school children of the Canton of Geneva and the relatively high number of non-tuberculosis mycobacteria demonstrated in human material between 1979 and 1981 in this Canton suggest that these mycobacteria also play a role in this country.

[Multicenter study on the status of antibiotic and chemotherapy resistance in Switzerland 1979]. / Multizentrische Studie über die Situation der Antibiotika- und Chemotherapeutika-Resistenz in der Schweiz 1979.

In 1979 a three-month multicentre study of resistance of bacteria isolated from humans and animals was carried out in Switzerland with the participation of 22 institutes and laboratories. A total of 23,852 antibiograms were evaluated concerning the following bacteria: Escherichia coi, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella sp., Serratia marcescens, Proteus (indole-negative), Proteus (indole-positive), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and enterococci (streptococci of Group D). 95.5% of the strains were isolated from human material, almost half being isolated from urine. The remaining 4.5% were obtained from animal material, more than half being isolated from the milk of cows with mastitis. Although the various institutes and laboratories did not use a uniform, standardized method, the results are closely in line with those of similar studies carried out earlier in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the USA. No pronounced trend in the direction of increased resistance is observable.

[Clinical suspicion of tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria]. / Suspicion clinique de tuberculose et mycobactéries non tuberculeuses.

During the year 1979, 28 out of 95 patients with positive culture for acid-fast bacilli exhibited non-tuberculous mycobacteria (29.5%). In 15 cases the radiological and clinical findings were consistent with the diagnosis of tuberculosis, but only in one case (cutaneous lesion) was the pathology due to the mycobacteria isolated whereas in all others the bacteria was a saprophyte. This study suggests that non-tuberculous mycobacteria may be more frequent than expected in our region, and demonstrates the importance of their precise identification in order to stop their treatment. Nevertheless, in case of doubt and until identification results are obtained, such patients must be treated as probable tuberculosis cases.

[Arabinose, melibiose and xylose oxidation and fermentation in "Serratia" (author's transl)]. / Oxydation et fermentation de l'arabinose, du mélibiose et du xylose par Serratia.

The oxidative and fermentative metabolisms of D(+)raffinose, D(-)arabinose, L(+)arabinose, D(+)melibiose and D(+)xylose were compared in 181 strains belonging to the genus Serratia, including collection strains and clinical isolates from various sources. At 30 degrees C, raffinose was neither fermented nor oxidized by S. marcescens, but was fermented by S. liquefaciens and S. rubidaea. D(-)arabinose was oxidized by all strains. L(+)arabinose, melibiose and xylose were fermented by all S. liquefaciens and S. rubidaea, while they were oxidized by most S. marcescens. Two strains of the latter species, however, were able to ferment xylose. The use of Hugh and Leifson's oxidation-fermentation medium containing melibiose or L(+)arabinose can help to differentiate S. rubidaea from pigmented strains of S. marcescens and to differentiate S. liquefaciens from unpigmented strains of S. marcescens.

New method for detecting bacteriocin production.

Bacteriocin production can be easily detected by using both sides of the agar contained in a standard petri dish.