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BACTERIOLOGICAL STUDIES IN CHRONIC BRONCHITIS
Author(s) -
GANDEVIA BRYAN,
COWLING D. C.
Publication year - 1961
Publication title -
australasian annals of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0571-9283
DOI - 10.1111/imj.1961.10.4.275
Subject(s) - sputum , chronic bronchitis , antibiotics , pathogen , bronchitis , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , biology , tuberculosis , pathology
Summary From patients with chronic bronchitis, either in a small series studied for over a year or in a consecutive series of hospital patients, the common potential pathogens isolated from the sputum were Hæmophilus influenza, Streptococcus pneumoniæ and Escherichia coli . Among 17 patients, from whose sputum 282 cultures were made over a period of 16 months, three were found whose sputum grew E. coli as the only likely pathogen, and in two others this organism was isolated with notable consistency. The frequency with which E. coli was found in this study is not solely attributable to previous antibiotic therapy, although influenced by it, and it is considered a significant pathogen in some patients with chronic bronchitis. It is possible that a variety of organisms usually considered non‐pathogenic may play a part in infecting a mucous membrane already damaged by other agents, such as smoking and atmospheric pollution, and that the less susceptible organisms may assume greater significance after the administration of antibiotics.