[Method of storage and transportation of bacterial culture using paper disks]. / Sposob khraneniia i peresylki kul'tur bakterii s ispol'zovaniem bumazhnykh diskov.

A method for bacterial culture storage and transportation is suggested consisting in impregnation of filter paper disks with broth culture and drying. Bacterial cultures can be stored in this mode for at least a year at 4 degrees C.

[A new modification of Pizu's medium for the rapid identification of Corynebacterium diphtheriae based on the AGV medium]. / Novaia modifikatsiia sredy Pizu dlia uskorennoi identifikatsii Corynebacterium diphtheriae na osnove sredy AGV.

Various nutrient bases (dry nutrient agar, erythrol agar, medium for toxigenicity determination, casein-yeast and AGV media) have been examined to choose a base for Pizu's medium instead of agar D that is no longer manufactured. AGV medium has been found the best nutrient base. The method for the preparation of Pizu's medium has been simplified. The modified Pizu's medium permits the detection of cystinase in C: diphtheriae in 3-5 hrs both in pure and mixed cultures.

[Screening carriers of the HBs-antigen with the use of a "group" passive hemagglutination reaction test]. / Skrining nositelei HBs-antigena s pomoshch'iu postanovki reaktsii passivnoi gemaggliutinatsii "gruppovym" sposobom.

The passive hemagglutination test (PHAT) with a mixture of tested sera is suggested to be used in screening of HBsAg carriers. A pool of 4 sera is used in a test, diluted twofold with physiologic saline; thus the end dilution of each serum is 1:8. Examinations of 296 serum samples by the current and the 'group' methods have yielded the results that coincide. The 'group' PHAT method cuts down the consumption of the diagnostic agent 4-fold and is less labor-consuming.

[The ability to grow on Levine's or Endo's media as a test for the identification of enterococci]. / Sposobnost' k rostu na sredakh Levina ili Endo kak test dlia identifikatsii énterokokkov.

The suggested test for the identification of enterococci is based on their ability, unlike other streptococci, to grow in Levine's or Endo's media. A total of 128 enterococcal and 251 other streptococcal cultures were examined. The studies have demonstrated reliability of the suggested test, which permits, as a rule, cutting down the time for identification by 1 day and simplifying the investigation.

[Determination of the toxigenicity of Corynebacterium diphtheriae by using paper indicator disks]. / Opredelenie toksigennosti Corynebacterium diphtheriae s pomoshch'iu indikatornykh bumazhnykh diskov.

The method for the determination of the toxigenicity of C. diphtheriae by means of discs impregnated with diphtheria antitoxin is proposed. The discs can be prepared long before use and stored for a year. The determination of toxigenicity with these discs is not inferior in its sensitivity to the routine procedure of the immunoprecipitation test. The disc method decreases the consumption of unavailable diphtheria antitoxin by 10 times, that of culture media by 2-2.5 times: besides, it is less labor consuming.

[New principles and criteria in assessing pathogenic and opportunistic microorganisms]. / Novye printsipy i kriterii otsenki patogennykh i uslovno-patogennykh mikroorganizmov.

Using the ecological and natural-science approaches, the authors have come to the conclusion that microorganisms, pathogenic for humans (animals), are their parasites for whom the disease of their biological host is the necessary condition of their existence as a biological species. And accordingly, microorganisms, opportunistic in humans (animals) are their parasites and commensals, as well as saprophytes, for whom the disease of their host is not the necessary condition of their existence in nature. The biological host is a symbion necessary for the existence of pathogenic and most opportunistic microorganisms, but for a pathogenic microorganism the disease of the host is the result of symbiotic relationships, while for an opportunistic microorganism the disease of the host is the consequence of disturbances in symbiotic relationships. Such view of pathogenicity is important for creating a scientifically grounded theory of the liquidation of human infectious diseases.

[Method of calculating the incidence of viral hepatitis B]. / Metodika rascheta rasprostranennosti virusnogo gepatita B.

The method for the calculation of actual hepatitis B morbidity and the formula for such calculation are proposed. The calculations presented in this work have demonstrated that the actual spread of virus B hepatitis is many times higher than the registered morbidity rate and that there are more than 30 undetected hepatitis patients per each manifest case of the disease. This requires additional approaches to the study of the epidemiology of virus B hepatitis, the ways and factors of its transmission.

[Use of paper indicator systems for the rapid identification of Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Neisseria meningitidis and the genus Staphylococcus]. / Ispol'zovanie bumazhnykh indikatornykh sistem dlia uskorennoi identifikatsii Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Neisseria meningitidis i roda Staphylococcus.

The possibility of using paper indicator discs with glucose, saccharose, lactose and urea, manufactured at the Gorky Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, has been studied and the methods for the preparation of indicator discs with fructose, maltose, starch and sodium phenolphthalein-phosphate for the biochemical identification of C. diphtheriae, N. meningitidis and staphylococci have been proposed. The study of 395 C. diphtheriae strains, 98 N. meningitidis strains and 328 staphylococcal strains has shown that paper indicator systems are highly sensitive and specific, which makes it possible to recommend their introduction in laboratory practice for the rapid identification of the above-mentioned organisms.

[Accelerated identification method for Corynebacterium diphtheriae]. / Sposob uskorennoi identifikatsii Corneybacterium diphtheriae.

A method for rapid isolation of C. diphtheriae and determination of its biovar is proposed. The method consists in the inoculation of the material under study into 5% blood agar, the determination of cystinase in the modified Pisou medium prepared from agar D with sodium hyposulfite added and the fermentation of starch in dishes with serum starch agar. The proposed method allows one to reduce the time necessary for the identification of C. diphtheriae by 18 hours.

[Use of ristomycin diffused into the culture medium for separation of meningococci from nasopharyngeal mucus]. / Primenenie ristomitsina metodom diffuzii v pitatel'nuiu sredu dlia vydeleniia meningokokka iz nosoglotochnoi slizi.

The method for enhancing the growth of meningococci after the inoculation of the specimens of nasopharyngeal mucus is proposed. The method is based on the diffusion of ristomycin into agar from ristomycin-impregnated filter paper strips. During the study of 694 specimens of nasopharyngeal mucus the above-mentioned method allowed isolation of 108 meningococcal cultures, while in serum agar only 21 cultures were isolated. The effectiveness coefficient of this method was found to be 80.6%, its effectiveness index being 5.1. The method facilitated the isolation of meningococci and in some cases reduced the time of analysis by 1 day.