Studies on the type division of the typhoid and paratyphoid B bacilli by fermentation

Abstract

No case of transformation (in vivo) of the “xylose-positive” typhoid bacillus to the “xylose-negative”, or vice versa, has been observed in any of the material dealt with at the State Serum Institute, Copenhagen.On the other hand, the types of paratyphoid B bacilli that can be established on the basis of their relation to rhamnose and inositol did not prove to be absolutely constant; actual or apparent transformation of one type to the other having been observed in several cases.In this connexion the suggestion is made that Bitter's rhamnose reaction be omitted; the distinction between types R1 and R2 would thus disappear.Patients with symptoms of diseases of the liver and biliary system and also chronic carriers were represented in greater numbers for type R3I1 than for type R2I1, but it is doubtful whether this observation can be taken as a general one. Apart from this, the behaviour of these two types was very uniform as to the clinical course of the infections they produced. The cases of infection with the rarer types, also, did not seem to vary clinically from those with the more frequent types. On the other hand, the difference between the clinical course of paratyphoid B and the infection with Salmonella typhi murium was very marked.