The effect of desiccation on the viability of Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

The death-rates have been determined of strains of Staphylococcus arueus dried on lint and other textiles and stored at room temperature in the dark.Two categories of strains were distinguished, those that showed no significant loss of viability after 15 days storage and those whose death commenced from the beginning of the drying period.There was some degree of correlation between survival for 15 days and implication in epidemics of hospital infection.