For the antibiotic treatment of infectious diseases, MIC level of the organism and the drug concentration in the blood was once considered to be the most important indicators of predictable therapeutic efficacy. Later, more importance has been attached to the measurement of intraorganic drug concentration in infections in general. However, in the case of generalized infections like. septicemia or subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE), the measurement of drug concentration in the blood is still holding clinical value.
For the treatment of SBE, Schlichter, in 1949, devised “Tube Dilution Method” as a method for serum inhibition test (SIT) in which the serum suppressing power on the bacteria is titrated directly between the patient's serum and the organism causing the disease. However, in his method, there sometimes occurred cases in part of streptococcus viridance in which the colony development is small in number and that ambiguity makes the determination difficult. In view of this disadvantage, we have devised a method which we call “Cup Method”. In this method, the cups containing increasingly 2-fold diluted patient's serum, respectively, were put on the surface of the plate of blood agar, which was premixed with the causatives in proper density. After 24 hours incubation at 37°C, the effective inhibition ring is measured diametricaly.
The therapeutic effects of antibiotics on septicemia (2 cases) and SBE (5 cases) were examined in relation with SIT using the above two methods simultaneously in comparison.
The followings are the summary of this report:
1) Satisfactory clinical effect could be yielded in cases in which the inhibition was seen by the serum of up to 8-fold or more dilution, whether it was the tube method or the cup method that was used.
2) The cup method produced more clear-cut determination than the tube method.
3) The cup method saved the time for the reading by 24 hours.
4) In the cup method, the reading is hardly influenced by insufficient or slow bacterial growth as seen in the case of the tube method.
5) The number of bacteria to be used for determination plate can be invariably fixed in the cup method.
6) Seen in the tube method is bactericidal effect but in the cup method, bacteriostatic effect.
Although some problems are there in the cup method, such as; is it proper to read the larger inhibition ring when more than two antibiotics were administrated simultaneously?; is it proper todetermine the effective inhibition ring after the same table as used for the sensitivity disc method?; yet, this method is thought to be highly valuable, on the ground that only once is enough for the blood sampling at the time when the level of the drug concentration in the blood is thought to be al ound the lowest and if SIT at that time still revealed the inhibition by 8-fold or more diluted serum, then, the antibiotic therapy should be thought satisfactory and clinical effect can surely be expected.

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Between January 1, 1969 and March 31, 1971, 39 patients with gram-negative bacteremia were studied for distribution of bacterial species, portal of entry, occurrence of bacteremia by age and sex and clinical laboratory data.
Gram-negative bacteremia due to E. coli and Klebsiella was more frequently detected. Biliary and urinary tracts were most frequently recognized to be the portal of entry.
Occurrence of bacteremia was prominent in the less than 1-year-old group.
Laboratory data showed hypoproteinemia, slight to moderate anemia, elevated serum GOT, BUN, serum bilirubin and leucocytosis. Complicated with the bacteremia were diseases such as leukemia, biliary tract disease, carcinoma and diabetes mellitus. The mortality rate was high, especially among leucopenic patients.

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During August to October, 1971, there was an outbreak of acute infectious conjunctivitis, including obout two Thousand cases in Fukuoka prefecture. The present paper reports the results of study done during this epidemic.
These were diagnosed bacteriologically as acute conjunctivitis due to Koch-Weeks bacillus (Hemophilus aegyptius). Thirteen strains of Koch-Weeks bacillus were isolated on blood agar from 24 sample of conjunctival scrapings. According to the tissue culture and the serological tests, adeno virus infection as agent of this outbreak is thought to be denied.

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[in Japanese]

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