Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Chemotherapy of experimental streptococcal endocarditis
  1. Frederick S. Southwick,
  2. David T. Durack
  1. Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford

    Part III Failure of a bacteriostatic agent (tetracycline) in prophylaxis 1

    Abstract

    Bacteriostatic agents are frequently recommended as alternatives to penicillin for prophylaxis of bacterial endocarditis. To test the efficacy of this group of antimicrobials, prophylaxis of experimental streptococcal endocarditis was attempted with tetracycline. The number of streptococci colonizing the aortic valves of rabbits was not affected by inhibitory levels of tetracycline, but multiplication was checked. Streptococcis urvived in vegetations for seven days despite the continuous presence of tetracycline, and multiplied when the drug was withdrawn. It is therefore suggested that bacteriostatic agents may be valueless for prophylaxis of bacterial endocarditis.

    Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    Part III Failure of a bacteriostatic agent (tetracycline) in prophylaxis 1

    Footnotes

    • 1 Parts I and II have been published in other journals (see references).