Intestinal Microftora in Asiatic Cholera. I. "Rice-Water" Stool

Abstract

patients provided early research workers with their initial clue to the etiology of this disease [1]. More recently, the heavy concentration of vibrios has made possible the use of darkfield [2] and fluorescent microscopy [3] as rapid diagnostic procedures. Previous quantitative studies of cholera stool have suggested that the reduction in vibrio counts during recovery may be due to reestablishment of the normal flora [4]. There are, however, no data on the numerical prevalence of normal microbial components in rice-water stool, and it is generally assumed that the fecal effluent is almost entirely composed of Vibrio cholerae. The purpose of this investigation was to measure the cultivable fecal flora during acute and convalescent cholera by quantitative and qualitative bacteriologic techniques. The results may furnish some information on ecologic factors and microbial interaction within the intestine of the