[The epidemiology of neonatal meningitis]. / Epidemiologiia neonatal'nykh meningitov.

The epidemiological features of meningitides in newborns have been studied and criteria making it possible to distinguish the cases of intrauterine and postnatal infection have been proposed. The overwhelming majority of these infections has been found to occur due to hospital infections caused by enterobacteria and nonfermenting bacteria. In meningitides of this etiology the sources of infection are newborns colonized by these microorganisms. Infection is transmitted through everyday contacts through the hands of the medical staff. Besides, moist environmental objects serve as the additional reservoir of infection.

[Properties of Serratia marcescens strains isolated in septic diseases of newborn infants]. / Svoistva shtammov Serratia marcescens, vydelennykh pri septicheskikh zabolevaniiakh novorozhdennykh.

As the result of the study of blood and liquor samples from 120 newborns, Serratia marcescens was isolated in 21 cases (17.5 %). 8 strains were isolated from the environment of these patients. Almost all strains isolated from both the patients and the environment (with the exception of one environmental strain) belonged to serotype 04. The isolated S. marcescens strains were resistant to penicillin, ampicillin, streptomycin, kanamycin, oxacillin, methicillin, ceporin and moderately sensitive to polymixin. 2 strains from the environment and 9 strains from the patients were mildly sensitive to gentamicin. In one hospital all isolated strains were found to have 2 transmissive R plasmids with the molecular weight 40 and 60 megadaltons. The presence of R plasmids with the same molecular weight in all S. marcescens strains isolated in this hospital, as well as their serological identity, suggest that in all patients infection originated from a common source.

[Streptococcus group B in meningitis and infection of newborn infants]. / Streptokokk gruppy B pri meningite i sepsise novorozhdennykh.

Streptococci were isolated from the liquor or blood of 102 newborn infants and 16 infants in the first month of their life, suspected of having purulent meningitis, in 22 cases (18,5%). 5 isolated streptococcal strains were classified with group B on the basis of their cultural, biochemical and serological features. All of these strains were isolated from newborn infants during the first 3-4 days of their life. The occurrence of group B streptococci among all examined newborn infants was 4.8%; among the newborns with the positive results of bacteriological examination (73 infants) this figure was as high as 6.8%. The authors emphasize the necessity of producing, on an industrial scale, diagnostic preparations for the identification of group B streptococci playing a significant role in septic diseases and meningitides in newborns.

[Use of genetic and molecular characteristics of R plasmids as an epidemiological marker in an outbreak of hospital infection]. / Ispol'zovanie geneticheskoi i molekuliarnoi l kharakteristiki R-plazmid v kachestve épidemiologicheskogo markera pri vspyshke vnutribol'nichnoi infektsii.

Antibiotic sensitivity of 38 strains of enteric bacteria, such as Serratia marcescens Klebsiella pneumoniae and others and Ps. aeruginosa isolated during an outbreak of meningitis in a premature infant resuscitation department was studied. It was shown that all the isolates were multiple resistant, most frequently to 7 antibiotics. All the resistance markers were transferred on conjugation, segregation of some markers being observed. Investigation of the plasmid composition of the clinical strains and transconjugants of E. coli revaled the presence of 2 plasmids with the molecular weights of 40 and 60 Md or one of them. The restriction analysis demonstrated that the plasmids with the same molecular weights isolated from different strains were identical. It was suggested that such plasmids originated from the same source and were distributed by conjugation. The possible part of R plasmids in epidemiological analysis of hospital infections is discussed: the possible part as an additional marker in determination of the infection source and the possible part through its ability to change the host cell phenotype, including the phage and bacteriocin types.

[Role of normal microflora in the treatment of vibrio carrier state in rat gnotobionts]. / Rol' normal'noi mikroflory v sanatsii vibrionositel'stva u krys-gnotobionts.

Materials on the study of interactions between Vibrio cholera El Tor and some indigenous bacteria of human intestinal tract, which proved to be active antagonists in vitro, are presented in this work. Experiments were conducted on gnotobiotic rats (Fisher), using various combinations and variants of the order of the microorganism administration; there were revealed no antagonistic relations between Virbrio cholerae El Tor and Escherichia coli M-17, Lactobacillus fermenti, Lactobacillus plantarum. Vibrio cholera El Tor disappeared completely from the intestinal tract of the rats after its contact with the fecal microflora of healthy rats.

[Model of a chronic Vibrio cholerae carrier based on gnotobiotic rats]. / Model' khronicheskogo kholernogo vibriononostiel'stva na krysakh-gnotobiontakh

Germ-free monoflora (contaminated with nonpathogenic spore-bearing bacillus) and common albino rats (OFA) were infected with V. cholera El Tor, of Ogava and Inaba serological types (6 milliard microbial cells per 1.5 ml of physiological solution per rat). Approximately one week after the infection the number of vibrios reached hundreds of millions per 1 g of feces and persisted at this level for over 100 days (observation period). Newborn rats were infected by natural way from adult vibrio carriers and also became vibrio-carriers. The number of vibrios excretedby the animals which were germ-free and monoflora before the infection was approximately the same. Cholera vibrios perished completely in the enteric tract and were never revealed in the feces of common (control) rats.