An outbreak of meningitis due to Citrobacter koseri in a special care baby unit is described. The organism showed a high capacity for spread among the babies on the unit and although the intestinal carriage rate was high, the clinical case:carrier ratio was low.

Citrobacter↗

PubMed1975

The bacteraemia associated with burns surgery.

Fifty-four surgical procedures on 39 burnt patients were studied with serial blood cultures. In 25 (46 per cent) of these procedures the cultures were positive. In spite of the absence of prophylactic systemic antibiotics there were no clinical manifestations and not one of the bacteraemias developed into a septicaemia. The role of natural immunity in controlling the bacteraemia is discussed and it is suggested that prophylactic systemic antibiotic therapy covering burns surgery is unnecessary in the presence of normal immunoglobulin levels.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Salmonella enteritidis PT6: another egg-associated salmonellosis?

Salmonella Enteritidis phage type 6 (PT6) increased dramatically in the United Kingdom during 1997. The sharp rise suggests that PT6 contamination has spread rapidly throughout a basic food commodity; however, the source and food vehicle remain unknown. We present evidence from three outbreaks suggesting a possible link between PT6 and eggs. Poor documentation of the egg supply network continues to pose problems for public health investigators. Thorough investigation of all future PT6 outbreaks and case-control studies of sporadic infections are needed to confirm the etiology of PT6 infection.

Humans↗