Effect of Aureomycin on Trichomonas intestinalis hominis

Abstract

DURING studies of aureomycin in human amœbiasis, we observed a remarkable side-effect in those patients who simultaneously harboured Trichomonas intestinalis. Before treatment, these flagellates were present in small numbers only; but they increased considerably after the administration of 3–4 gm. of aureomycin. This increase continued during treatment lasting seven to ten days and was not dependent on the consistency of the stools before or during treatment. In three out of the eight cases observed the increase was enormous; examination of these stools gave the impression of a pure culture of Trichomonas. Though it is known that Trichomonas intestinalis may appear in large numbers in the convalescent stage of bacillary dysentery (Manson-Bahr), it is less frequently observed in amœbic dysentery. We consider the regularity of the increase in eight cases and the enormous numbers occurring in three cases as particularly noteworthy.