[Hereditary C5 deficiency and recurrent Neisseria meningitidis meningitis]. / Déficit héréditaire en C5 et méningite récidivante à Neisseria meningitidis.

Deficiencies of the terminal C fragments of the complement system are known to be associated with a remarkable increase in the frequency of Neisseria infections. The correlation is even closer between deficiency of C5 and recurrent N. meningitidis meningitis. The reasons for this bacterial specificity and the immunopathological mechanisms involved have not been clearly established. However, it is known that only adult subjects with homozygous deficiency are affected and that the deficiency is transmitted as an autosomal recessive trait unrelated to the HLA system.

Carbon substrate assimilation patterns of clinical and environmental strains of Aeromonas hydrophila, Aeromonas sobria and Aeromonas caviae observed with a micromethod.

The assimilation of carbon substrates by 103 strains of Aeromonas of different origin identified by conventional methods was studied by means of a standardized micromethod containing 147 tests (API system). Six distinct groups could be recognized and the discriminating substrates were determined. 3 species of Aeromonas can be identified by means of conventional method: A. hydrophila, A. sobria and A. caviae. The method has a number of drawbacks: Some media are unreliable, others are difficult to read, strict preservation conditions are essential. The proposed micromethod for carbon substrate assimilation allows, in most cases, a simple separation of the 3 motile Aeromonas species.

In vitro activity of teicoplanin against gram-positive cocci.

The glycopeptide susceptibility of 443 clinical isolates of gram-positive cocci collected from nine general hospitals in 1996 was determined according to the recommendations of the CA-SFM (the Antibiogram Committee of the French Society for Microbiology). In total, 234 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, 84 isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS), 98 enterococci and 27 streptococci were collected. The mecA gene confirming resistance to methicillin was found in 42.7% of S. aureus isolates and 51.2% of CNS isolates. No resistance to teicoplanin and vancomycin was found in S. aureus but four isolates of CNS had an MIC of teicoplanin > or = 8 mg/L. All isolates of Enterococcus faecalis tested were susceptible to both glycopeptides. This study confirms that teicoplanin has a very good in vitro activity against gram-positive cocci, isolated in France from nosocomial infections.