1. It has been shown that certain nitrite-destroying organisms when grown along with V. Cholerae prevent the appearance of the cholera-red reaction. This is not due to the non-formation of nitrite, but to its rapid destruction by the enitrite-destroying organisms.

2. Certain nitrite-destroying organisms fail to prevent the cholera-red reaction.

3.It has been shown in the case of the B. dysenteriae (Flexner) that the failur to prevent the cholera-red reaction is due to an inhibition of the growth of both organisms when grown together.

A survey of 13 linen chutes in eight hospitals was carried out to assess the amount of bacterial contamination on the inner walls of these chutes. It was shown that the average bacterial count in these chutes was low by general hospital standards (19·7 bacterial colonies per Rodac plate). This concentration was eight times less than the average concentration found on the floor surface at each linen disposal and collection point (153 bacterial colonies per Rodac plate).

Three chutes sampled during the survey were periodically cleaned but appeared to derive only very limited benefits from the cleaning method they used.

Tests carried out on three linen chutes showed that the bacterial surface contamination of a sterilized chute could normally reach a maximum concentration in a period of between 4 and 24 hr.

It is concluded that so long as good engineering practices are used in the construction of linen chutes the bacterial contamination on their inner surface should not contribute to the problem of hospital cross infection. For this reason, and because of the impracticability of sterilizing linen chutes at very short intervals of time, it is considered that cleaning of chutes would serve no practical purpose.

Thanks must be recorded to the authorities of all those hospitals who gave their permission for us to study their linen disposal chutes and afforded us every assistance.

We should also like to thank Mr W. Carson, Leader of the Building Services Research Unit, for his help and encouragement.

The work reported was a part of an investigation into the design of linen disposal chutes sponsored by the Western Regional Hospital Board, Scotland.

Immunization of men with various amounts of salmonella antigens gave a linear relationship between the logarithm of the dose and the logarithm of the titres of the antibodies produced. No secondary response was observed for any of the doses used. These doses of salmonella vaccine did not interfere with or stimulate simultaneous primary or secondary vaccination with tetanus and diphtheria vaccine.

When a 1:5 mixture of trimethoprim (TMP) and sulphadiazine was fed to pigs intra-nasally infected with Bordetella bronchiseptica, 10 mg/kg/day was shown to be highly effective in suppressing the organism. This dose level had little effect on numbers of TMP-resistant coliforms in faeces, but oral doses of 30 mg/kg/day eventually selected a resistant population. It is suggested that the proliferation of resistant coliforms would be minimized by administration of the lowest oral dose rates of antibacterial drugs compatible with efficacy.

It appears to be widely believed that normal human urine as voided is sterile, and that the fact of sterility is capable of ready demonstration.

Sera from two rabbits bled after one, two and three inoculations of concentrated type 1 poliovirus tissue culture fluid were assayed for neutralizing activity by a quantal and a plaque method. The plaque counts in these tests have been shown to approximate to a Poisson distribution as determined by the relationship between the variance and the mean of replicate counts. However, there is a considerable scatter of the points in such a comparison and this accounts for the absence of the expected increase in accuracy of this plaque method over the quantal.

The relationship between the antibody content of the sera determined by the two methods is non-linear. This can be attributed to inhomogeneity of the antibody produced which increases with the number of antigenic stimuli given.

The aim of our study was to examine the position of vaccinated people regarding the proposal for mandatory and seasonal vaccination against COVID-19 in Serbia. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of people who came to receive a third dose of COVID-19 at the Institute of Public Health of Serbia in September and October 2021. Data were collected by means of a sociodemographic questionnaire. The study sample comprised 366 vaccinated adults. Factors associated with the belief that vaccination against COVID-19 should become mandatory were being married, being informed about COVID-19 from TV programmes and medical journals, trust in health professionals, and having friends affected by COVID-19. In addition to these predictors, factors associated with the belief that COVID-19 vaccination should become seasonal were being older, consistently wearing facemasks, and not being employed. The results of this study highlight that trust in information delivery, evidence-based data, and healthcare providers may be a major driver of mandatory and seasonal vaccine uptake. A careful assessment of the epidemiological situation, the capacity of the health system, and the risk–benefit ratio is needed in order to introduce seasonal and/or mandatory vaccination against COVID-19.

Established methods of recruiting population controls for case–control studies in infectious disease outbreak investigations are resource- and time-intensive, and are often subject to bias. The online panel have recently gained interest as an easy and timely method to select controls. We examined the feasibility, suitability and reliability of using an online panel to select controls for case–control studies as part of investigations of diffuse food and waterborne outbreaks. In January 2019, we deployed a web survey by email to the 277 members of a non-probabilistic online panel in Lower Saxony, Germany. We questioned them on basic sociodemographic characteristics and eating habits. They were frequency matched to cases on sex and age. Their food exposures were compared to those of traditionally recruited controls of four historical case–controls studies, which successfully investigated food and waterborne outbreaks. We used logistic regressions to assess the association between the food exposures and the disease (odds ratios). The use of a control panel successfully led to the identification of the food items in three of the four historical outbreak investigations, and their recruitment benefitted from increased speed and limited costs. Timely outbreak investigations would enable rapidly implementing control measures. We recommend the further evaluation of using panellists as controls in parallel case–control studies and case–panel studies.

The Bacillus cloacae liquefies gelatin very slowly, sometimes taking a month or more to do so. It is in consequence occasionally a source of delay and of great inconvenience to the bacteriologist. In this paper it has been shown that by using appropriate methods the time necessary for demonstrating the liquefaction of gelatin by this organism may be shortened to a week.

A test is described for assessing the effect of hypochlorites in reducing the bacterial load on soiled napkins during storage, between removal from the infant and the laundering.

Mice which carried the tapeworm Hymenolepis nana gave anomalous results when they were infected with tubercle bacilli. Males died earlier than females. The cause of death in some was intussusception or acute enteritis. More tapeworm eggs were excreted in the faeces of male mice, and, for each sex, egg counts were higher in BCG-vaccinated animals.

This work forms part of the studies on immunity to tuberculosis for a Ph.D. thesis, and was carried out while I was in receipt of a Harrison-Watson Studentship of Clare College and a Welcome Fellowship of the Animal Health Trust.

1. Plasma heated to 56° C. for 4 min. is not clotted by staphylococcal coagulase or thrombin, but when heated in the presence of glycine remains sensitive to the action of these clotting agents.

2. With glycine, plasma no longer clots after heating at 62° C.

In 1901 Miss Anderson (H.M. Principal Lady Inspector of Factories) and Dr Legge (H.M. Medical Inspector Factories) were instructed by H.M. Chief Inspector of Factories to investigate the conditions of labour in the Tinning of metals and metal articles with a view to the preparation of regulations for the conduct of this industry. Difficulties having arisen in assigning a cause for the plumbism undoubtedly existing among workers, and preparation of regulations appearing impossible without some knowledge of the source of illness, the writer was instructed to assist them experimentally in determining the causes.

The aim of the study was to develop a procedure to remove spatial trends in irregularly spaced data, with trends partly due to regional differences. Median polish is often used on regularly spaced (lattice) data where column and row medians are removed. For irregularly spaced data a low-resolution map of the spatial locations is often used where data locations are assigned to the nearest lattice node followed by median polish. In this study regional polish was developed. The inverse distance weighted median was calculated based on observations from locations in the neighbourhood of the actual observation. The regional polish residual is obtained as the difference between the observed value and the weighted median. The regional polish procedure was applied to Salmonella Dublin data showing strong regional trends. Estimation of the range of influence between cattle herds with positive S. Dublin herd status was considerably improved with a stable parameter estimate and reduced standard error.

The larva about to turn into a pupa comes to rest, the thoracic region becomes swollen, and the pupa gradually issues through a dorsal slit in the larval cuticle, which is ultimately thrown off with all its exterior chitinous appendages as well as those parts of the spiracles etc. which are superfluous.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a threat to public health and is the second cause of death due to a single infectious agent after HIV/AIDS. The worldwide distribution of TB is heterogeneous. The incidence is decreasing in most high-income regions, but the situation remains worrying in many parts of the world. The emergence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains resistant to key agents used in treatment (rifampin and isoniazid) contributes to TB transmission around the world. To achieve TB elimination, both high and low endemic countries must upscale their efforts to decrease disease transmission and improve cure rates. Management of drug-resistant TB is of particular importance. In this paper, we discuss the different models of care of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), the ethical considerations and the specific constraints present in high income countries. The management model chosen by the Belgian TB specialists in accordance with public health authorities as well as building of a specific MDR/XDR-TB isolation unit are also discussed.