Microbiology & Immunology - Theses
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ItemStudies in the etiology of rheumatic fever( 1952)The aim of the present study has been prompted by an endeavour to find on the basis of the allergic theory, the sensitizing substance or substances which may be responsible for the rheumatic process. This search for the sensitizing antigen involved two processes. Firstly, the preparation of a variety of substances from sources, which on the basis of the allergic theory were believed to have etiological significance and secondly, the utilization of a suitable method to demonstrate that an antigen-antibody reaction does occur. The successful finding of the sensitizing agent would establish the validity of the allergic theory. The failure to find it, however, would be no proof against it, though it may be incompatible with some of the hypotheses that have been postulated in an attempt to specify the mechanism of the allergic process eg. the hypothesis of auto-antibodies. The complexity of the problem which is testified by the still obscure nature of the disease after 50 years of research necessitated a variety of approaches, at times highly empirical, in the present study. Some of these have been designed to clarify doubtful results of previous investigations. Others have never been tried before. Indeed, to find some original approach to the problem of rheumatic fever, that has escaped the notice of previous investigators is a task of its own. Not less arduous is the task of studying the literature which has accumulated on the subject during the last fifty years. Waksman (1949), in a paper dealing with the etiology of rheumatic fever, lists over 700 references, at the end of which, he refers to other authors for an “exhaustive review” of the subject. (From Introduction)
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ItemUrinary tract infection in patients with spinal cord injury( 1975)This study was made to ascertain the aetiology, origin and pathways of infection as well as the reason for recurrence of urinary tract infection in male patients with permanent indwelling catheter, at the Spinal Injuries Unit, Austin Hospital, Australia. There has been no detailed bacteriological report published since the Unit opened in 1956. Since urinary infections are frequent during the life of spinal paralytics, it is important in the management of such patients to determine whether it is relapse or re—infection which plays the major role of infection. The main body of this thesis presents the findings of a detailed search for wall—defective bacteria (L—forms) in an attempt to confirm or deny the hypothesis that persistent L—forms play a part in the repeated isolation of the same organism from a patient over a number of years. The aetiology of urinary infection occurring in new admissions was a reflection of the ward flora present at different times of survey, which in turn depended on the disinfection measures taken. Gram—negative, urea splitting organisms such as Klebsiella, Proteus, and Providence as well as the nosocomial bacteria Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas and Serratia were found to be more common in causing urinary infection than the traditional Escherichia coli and Streptococcus faecalis. The chlorhexidine solution used for bladder irrigation was shown to be the source of Acinetobacter infections acquired during 1971-2 in new admissions. From weekly examinations during 1971-2 of new admissions there was little evidence that the urinary infections came from the patients' own faecal or nasal flora even when Klebsiella, Proteus or Pseudomonas were regularly isolated from such material. (Open document to view complete abstract)