[Oro-pharyngeal flora in severely burned patients]

Throat cultures were taken in thirty-seven cases of burned patients, and also, at the same time, from twenty-three healthy persons. The results showed that the essential oro-pharyngeal flora in healthy persons were Neisseria (65.7%) and Streptococcus viridans (14.3%), and Staphylococcus aureus was obtained occasionally. In twenty-five out of thirty-seven patients dominant growth of invaders was observed. The prominent aerobic bacteria in patients included Serratia (9.33%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (8.44%) and Proteus (7.11%). The positive rate of fungi was as high as 75.1%, of which Candida was the most commonly found organism. In 7 patients the number of bacteria in the throat was in excess of 108/cm2. Of these 7 patients, 4 died. Quantitative bacterial count of lungs were taken in 3 non-survivors, and the bacterial count was over 10(5)/g. The bacteria in the lungs were as same as the predominantly colonized bacteria in the throat, and in a part of cases were the same as the systemically disseminated bacteria. The study of the throat flora is simple, its result might help the prediction of pulmonary infection.