A rapid technique used for the identification of Streptococcus agalactiae, Lancefield group B, from the blood cultures of two neonatal infants is reported. The method utilized the Phadebact Streptococcus Test System (Pharmacia Diagnostics, Piscataway, N.J.) and the supernatant from 13-and 14-h blood cultures. Additional studies with simulated neonatal blood cultures revealed that this method was reproducible. Additional studies also revealed that some nonspecific agglutination did occur, which could not be eliminated with dithiothreitol, but was visibly reduced by treatment with soluble staphylococcal protein A.

One hundred Haemophilus influenzae isolates from various body sites were biotyped by conventional methods and by the API 20E system (Analytab Products, Plainview, N.Y.). By using a hemin- and a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-enriched saline solution as the inoculating fluid for the API 20E, a 100% correlation of results was obtained between the two methods. Ninety percent of the blood and cerebrospinal fluid isolates were biotype I. Biotype II was the predominant biotype encountered overall. No correlation was observed between beta-lactamase production and biotype. The API 20E is a reliable method and should prove useful for routine biotyping of H. influenzae in the clinical laboratory.

We describe the case of a 31-year-old asplenic man who developed DF-2 bacteremia, septic shock, and pneumonia after recreational immersion in a whirlpool spa. The patient did not have a history of dog bite or contact with canine secretions, although he owned two dogs. DF-2 could not be isolated from the whirlpool spa. CDC group DF-2, a slow-growing, fermentative, gramnegative bacillus, can cause fulminant bacteremic infections, particularly in patients who have undergone splenectomy. Septicemia and necrotizing wound infections have been firmly linked to dog bites (1, 3, 5, 10; F. Boyce and R. F.

Haemophilus influenzae serotype d was isolated from three women with pneumonia and underlying cardiopulmonary disease. Two of the strains were isolated from blood, and the third strain was isolated from sputum. The biotypes of the isolates were I, IV, and VI.

By utilizing buffered charcoal-yeast extract medium containing 0.01% aniline blue in conjunction with a long-wave UV light, the differentiation of five species of Legionella was facilitated. L. pneumophila, when grown on this medium, did not absorb the aniline blue dye; however, L. micdadei, L. dumoffli, L. bozemanii, and L. gormanii absorbed the dye in varying amounts and produced colonies of various shades of blue. Members of the family Legionellaceae are fastidious bacteria which will not grow on media routinely used for the isolation of clinical pathogens. To support optimum growth of Legionellaceae, iron and L-cysteine must be added to the artificial media, and the pH must be adjusted to 6.9. Recently, Vickers et al. (6) described a dyecontaining medium which enables the differentiation of members of the family Legionellaceae by the addition of 0.001% bromocresol purple and 0.001% bromothymol blue to buffered charcoal-yeast extract (CYE) agar. This medium reportedly permits the rapid identification of Legionella pneumophila and L. micdadei from clinical samples. This report describes a medium which enables the presumptive identification of L. pneumophila, L.