Abstract

An outbreak of neonatal diarrhoea associated with large numbers of Streptococcus faecalis var. zymogenes is described.

A follow-up survey showed that 23.3% of 347 healthy babies carried this organism without ill effect.

The tyrosine decarboxylase activity of the streptococci from both sick and healthy babies was identically high.

It is suggested that the tyramine-producing activity of these streptococci was not the primary cause of the diarrhoea.