Infections Due to Staph. aureus in a General Hospital

Through an invitation extended to me to work in the United States, an opportunity was provided of study- ing the present clinical significance of lesions in which Staphylococcus aureus is found. The investigation was carried out in the New York Hospital, and the time of year chosen was the six months comprising the late autumn, winter, and early spring of 1956-7. It was hoped thereby to include a period of the year when septic conditions were considered to be most prevalent. The object of the study was to discover: (1) the inci- dence of staphylococcal infections, (2) their relation to antibiotic resistance, and (3) their clinical severity. To get a general picture, recourse was had to contemporary records of the whole of the hospital, exclusive of private patients, while more particular study was made of samples obtained from two-monthly studies on each of the floors devoted to an out-patient surgical clinic, to general surgery (including fractures and plastic work), and to general medicine. For purposes of reference Staph. aureus in the hospital records was defined as " a typical pigmented staphylococcal colony which shows haemolysis on a blood agar plate." One should empha- size that there were two sorts of investigation going on at the same time: (1) into the records of the hospital and (2) from direct personal observations.