Bi-resistance to high concentrations of gentamicin and carbenicillin began to appear in strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from the urine of patients in several clinics and stations of our area. Nine out of 142 ‘urine strains’ of Ps. aeruginosa isolated from July to November 1971 are highly resistant to the above-mentioned antibiotics and also to others. Four additional strains appeared to be highly resistant to carbenicillin only, retaining their relative susceptibility to gentamicin. Transfer of both G^R and Ca^R determinants to E. coli K₁₂ recipient strains, however, did not take place. Thus, rifampicin-resistant high-level mutants of four G^SCa^S wild type strains of Ps. aeruginosa were obtained and used as recipients for both G^R and Ca^R determinants. Three bi-resistant G^RCa^R strains (No. 138, 140 and 110) transferred G^R determinants to individual Ri^R recipients, but none transferred Ca^R. The transfer was inter-strain specific and no general recipient mutant was so far obtained.

This was an open efficacy and safety study in 310 hospitalized patients (187 male and 123 female) with infection by Gram-positive bacteria. The age range was 12-88 years (mean 49.8 years), and 80 of the patients were older than 65 years. Teicoplanin was given either by fast iv or by im injection, in most cases at a dose of 200 or 400 mg every 24 h with an initial dose of 400 mg. For both routes of administration the mean total daily dose was 286 +/- 5 mg/day. The mean duration of treatment was 8.2 days (range 1-37 days). The infections comprised 133 skin or soft tissue, 53 joint or bone, 40 urinary tract, 39 upper respiratory tract, 21 lower respiratory tract, nine septicaemia, four gastro-intestinal tract and 11 miscellaneous. All Gram-positive bacteria isolated were sensitive to teicoplanin. Teicoplanin was the sole antimicrobial agent given in 269 of the 310 patients. Clinical cure occurred in 79.7%, and improvement in 13.6%. Adverse events related to teicoplanin occurred in 7.7% of the patients. Most were minor and in only six patients was treatment discontinued because of adverse events (three allergy, two bronchospasm, one tremor). The laboratory values and audiometry indices in 67 patients showed no significant changes. Teicoplanin was considered an effective and well-tolerated treatment for Gram-positive infections in this study.

In a long-term investigation in children and adult patients with urinary tract infection, 1403 Escherichia coli strains were serotyped and 266 strains were subjected to serological investigation. The most frequently occurring O groups were O6, O8, O2, O18, O4, O75, O1, O22, O7 and O9. L type antigens were predominant among the K antigens. Infants in whom pyelonephritis manifested itself for the first time exhibited an above average rate of infection with O2, O4 and O75. A reinfection rate of 84 to 91% was observed in children in follow-up investigations.

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