502A Staphylococcus aureus Recolonization

To the Editor.— The management of patients with recurrent furunculosis continues to be a difficult problem. Strauss et al 1 reported a patient who was successfully treated with oxacillin sodium followed by the implantation of strain 502A Staphylococcus aureus into the sites that are frequently reservoirs for pathogenic S aureus . A suspension containing 10 9 organisms of 502A S aureus was applied in the nose, axillae, umbilicus, groin, and perianal area on seven of the first nine days after oxacillin treatment was discontinued. This strain is usually, but not always, nonpathogenic. 2 We have treated two patients in a similar fashion and found that daily preparation of the suspension of 502A S aureus , with approximately 10 9 organisms per milliliter, was inconvenient for us and expensive for our patients. Therefore, a determination of the concentration of the live organisms in a "stale" suspension was made to see if there was