PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Noble, C J
TI  - Carriage of group D streptococci in the human bowel.
AID  - 10.1136/jcp.31.12.1182
DP  - 1978 Dec 01
TA  - Journal of Clinical Pathology
PG  - 1182--1186
VI  - 31
IP  - 12
4099  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/31/12/1182.short
4100  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/31/12/1182.full
SO  - J Clin Pathol1978 Dec 01; 31
AB  - Sixty faecal samples, 39 from adults and 21 from neonates, were investigated by means of a simple scheme to isolate and identify any group D streptococci present. A number of differences were found between the two groups. Group D streptococci were absent from 43% of the neonates compared with only 13% of the adults; Streptococcus bovis was commoner in the neonates (23.8%) than in the adults (5%), and Streptococcus faecium was not isolated from any of the infant samples although it was common in the adult samples (25%). The viable counts of Strep. faecium were found to be, on average, 100-fold lower than those of Streptococcus faecalis. The methods and results are discussed with reference to the clinical significance of group D streptococci, especially in bacterial endocarditis and carcinoma of the colon.