A Study on Staphylococci isolated from the Acute Suppurative Diseases in the Oral Area : with Reference to their Comparison in Pathogenicity

Abstract

With a view to investigating into the pathogenicity of oral Staphylococci carefully collected from the pus of the infectious diseases in the oral cavity, the authors compared the strains derived from the infectious, oral flora and Acne vulgaris strains and looked into their properties in terms of α-toxin, coagulase production, mannitol dissolution and acid resistancy which are closely related to the pathogenicity. The following are the salient findings of our study on the subject.
1. As regards 19 infectious strains, 17 cultures gave pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus and 2 cultures non-pathogenic Staphylococcus epidermidis. 11 strains out of 17 identified as Staphylococcus aureus produced a potent α-toxin.
2. As regards the normal flora strains, 49 out of 58 saliva cultures were determined to be Staphylococcal. Of these cases, 39 strains were Staphylococcus epidermidis and 11 strains Staphylococcus aureus, 9 strains of the latter attesting to the production. of α-toxin.
3. All of 14 strains derived from Acne vulgaris were Staphylococcus epidermidis. and the production of a-toxin was not detected at all.
4. The sensitivity test on 6 antibiotic drugs revealed that 10 out of 19 infectious strains, 3 out of 14 normal oral flora strains and 10 out of 14 Acne vulgaris strains. possessed resistant property against penicillin. High sensitivity was observed on the part of other 5 antibiotics.