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ERNEST JAWETZ, M.D., Ph.D.

AMA Arch Intern Med. 1952;89(1):90-98.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

PSEUDOMONAS aeruginosa derived its earlier name, Bacillus pyocyaneus, from the blue-green pus of wounds from which it was cultured. It is one of about 30 related species of Gram-negative bacilli which are predominantly freeliving in water and soil. Ps. aeruginosa is a normal inhabitant of the human intestinal tract, where it usually is present in small numbers and comes to the fore only when the normal coliform flora has been suppressed by antimicrobial drugs. This organism is not a pathogen in the usual sense of the word but may be called an "opportunist." It has no invasive powers and is ordinarily dealt with by the normal defenses of the body. Should these defenses not be developed, as in infants, or break down, as in debilitated persons, or should the bacillus be introduced passively into areas devoid of adequate natural defense mechanisms, it can set up an infection. Being closely related . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
SAN FRANCISCO

From the Divisions of Microbiology, Medicine, and Pediatrics, University of California School of Medicine.

Footnotes
This study was aided by a grant from Burroughs Wellcome & Company, Inc., Tuckahoe 7, N. Y., which issues polymyxin B as aerosporin.® Supplies of this brand of polymyxin B sulfate were generously made available by Dr. D. S. Searle, of Burroughs Wellcome & Company, Inc.

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