Fourty three patients of bacillary dysentery were given sodium methansulfonicum of colimycin, extracted from the filtrate of broth culture of Aerobacillus polymixa var. colistinus for the purpose of clinical and bacteriological studies of this antibiotic. Thirty miligrams per Kg of body weight daily were given in the interval of 4 hours for 5 days.
Sixteen cases were treated with Co-S alone, and 27 cases combined with streptomycin (SM) in the dosis of 20 mg/Kg. The results were as follows.
1. Regarding the frequency of diarrhea and the duration of pathological secretion in stools no significant difference or rather a slight protraction was noted, as compared with chloramphenicol (CM), tetracyclin (TC) alone or the combined use of CM and SM.
2. Dysentery bacilli in the stool disappeared with Co-S in as many days as with other antibiotics. The re-excretion of the bacilli after the conclusion of the therapy was observed in 50% with Co-S alone, 7.4 % with the combined use of Co-S and SM. This therapeutic effect is better than that of the other antibiotics except TC and almost the same as that of the combined use of CM and SM.
3. All the 25 strains, of which 13 were highly resistant to CM, SM and TC, demons trated sensitivity of 0.78 γ/cc-1.56 γ/cc against Co-S in vitro.
4. Conclusively, Co-S in alone use proved to be more effective against bacillary dysentery than the sulfonamides and, though less effective than the other antibiotics, it is worthwhile to apply if combined with SM in the cases with CM-, SM- and TC-resistant strains.
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