Evaluating the minimum active concentrations of penicillin G and V and of retard forms in clinical conditions.

Following several signals indicating the inefficiency of the clinical treatment with various penicillin preparations in some cases, we decided to study the seric penicillin concentrations in the patients hospitalized in the "V. Babes" Hospital of Infectious Diseases, after administration of the various Romanian made forms of penicillin currently used in the therapy of streptococcal infections and in the prophylaxis of the sequelae of these infections. The data obtained on groups exceeding 30 persons by using two methods of determining the penicillin concentrations the dilutions and the diffusimetric methods revealed protective penicillin seric levels satisfactory for penicillin G and Efitard, according to the present treatment schemes. After 5 days from Moldamin administration only 45.4% of children and 43.3% of adults were found to have satisfactory penicillin concentrations. The administration of penicillin V reaches active penicillin concentrations in terms of the dose administered. The paper points out only one of the causes which together with others (such as beta-lactamase production and tolerance), contribute to the unsuccessful treatment with various forms of penicillin.

Diagnosis methods for pneumococcal etiology determination in lower respiratory tract infections.

A comparative study of etiological diagnosis in lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI), by conventional bacteriological methods and by pneumococcal antigen direct detection in sputum was performed. This work followed the establishing of rapid methods place, respectively of coagglutination (CoA), counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE), within the methodology of bacteriological diagnosis in lower respiratory tract infections presenting pneumococcal etiology. The results of investigations performed on 84 sputa from LRTI patients proved the utility of CoA method in determining a rapid etiological diagnosis, important for applying an emergence targetted antibiotherapy. CoA method, with the reagents in use, covering only 10 out of 83 serological types of S. pneumoniae in not capable of replacing conventional methods of bacteriological diagnosis; they complete each other, increasing the efficiency of etiological diagnosis in LRTI. CIE method is less sensitive and more difficult to perform, being less useful in rapid etiological diagnosis of LRTI.