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The frequency of five Streptococcus mutans serotypes (a, b, c, d and e) was investigated in relation to tooth surface and its caries status in young schoolchildren. In the first study, plaque from the five surfaces of a second deciduous molar in 104 five-year-olds was examined for the presence of S. mutans. In the second study, isolations were made from the occlusals and approximal surfaces of a second deciduous and a first permanent molar in five- to eight-year-olds. The isolates were characterized biochemically, and then serotyped with antigen extracts against whole cell and ‘purified’ cell wall antisera using comparative immunoelectrophoresis. Of the 348 plaque isolates, type c was the prevalent serotype (91.1%). In the first study, a significant relation was found between the occurrence of type c and caries on the occlusal surfaces. However, the second study showed type c to be evenly distributed on the occlusals and approximal surfaces irrespective of caries status. This leaves open the possibility that certain types may be commensals.

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The social and medical characteristics of 228 'mixed' (drug abusing) and 773 'pure' alcoholics admitted to an inpatient treatment facility were compared. The mixed group, besides being younger, was sociologically more isolated and disaffiliated than was the pure group. As well, the mixed alcoholics were, in general, 'sicker' medically than were their nondrug-abusing counterparts. The recorded lifetime frequencies of neurological, genitourinary, respiratory and locomotor illnesses were all greater in the mixed compared with the pure group. Trauma and malnutrition were also more common, and among those forty years of age and over the incidences of epilepsy, gastritis, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and peptic ulcer were all significantly greater in the mixed group. Cardiovascular illnesses, however, were recorded tess frequently in the mixed group, as was cirrhosis among those aged forty and over. Possible reasons for these observations are discussed.