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Variation among strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae during an outbreak in a restricted environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

L. F. Gibson
L. F. Gibson
Affiliation:
Microbiological Diagnostic Unit, School of Microbiology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3052
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Summary

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Strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae isolated from a small outbreak in the restricted environment of a Mental Hospital were examined. All belonged to one serotype, but there was marked variation in diphthericin type, in sensitivity to bacteriophages and in the minor antigens possessed. One strain was non-virulent and laboratory-produced variants of this non-virulent strain showed changes in some of the characteristics used in the identification and typing of the organism, such as diphthericin type, sensitivity to bacteriophages and diphthericins, virulence, starch fermentation and, to a lesser extent, in antigenic structure. The epidemiological and experimental findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the strains isolated, both in the hospital and in the laboratory, were derivatives of a single parent and the mechanism of some of the variations could be related to changes in some structural component such as the cell membrane or the cell wall.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 71 , Issue 4 , December 1973 , pp. 691 - 699
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1973

References

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