Faecal peritonitis after laxative preparation for barium enema.

ment and no other respiratory organisms were grown we attempted to identify the organism and carried out sensitivity tests.The organism was resistant to penicillin, ampicillin, cephalexin, fusidic acid, and co-trimoxazole, and was sensitive to tetracycline, lincomycin, and gentamicin.Treatment was changed to lincomycin 500 mg by mouth thrice daily.Before this treatment was started a third specimen of sputum and second specimen of blood were obtained for culture.The sputum specimen again grew the same organism, but blood cultures showed no growth after two weeks' incubation.She became clinically well within five days after the changed treatment.The antibiotic was continued for a total of seven days.Two days later a further specimen of sputum was examined.This was not purulent and did not grow the organism or any known respiratory pathogen.She was discharged and was well at follow-up two weeks later.Bacteriology-Overnight incubation at 37°C produced whitish raised colonies of about 0-5 mm in diameter.Gram-staining showed large nonsporing Gram-positive rods.The organism grew aerobically as well as anaerobically, but slightly better in the presence of carbon dioxide.It was catalase and oxidase negative and non-motile.Similar characteristics were observed in all three cultures.The organism was provisionally named as a Lactobacillus spp and later fully identified by the Central Public Health Laboratory, London, as Lactobacillus casei ss rhamnosus.