THE BACTERIAL FLORA OF THE SKIN - FACTORS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF RESIDENT AND TRANSIENT ORGANISMS

[摘要] The sensitivity of various strains of bacteria isolated from normal and inflammatory skin to desiccation, the bacteriostatic effect of fatty acids, variations in the pH of the medium and the lipoids of olive oil, was investigated. The organisms tested belong to the following groups: micrococci isolated from normal and dermatitic skin and from the scalp; coagulase-positive staphylococci; staphylococci and streptococci, and various Gram-negative rods from inflammatory skin lesions; normal skin diphtheroids, Corynebacterium tenuis and Pityro-sporon ovale. Dryness rapidly killed the resident as well as the transient organisms. Gram-negative rods were slightly more resistant to a number of fatty acids than normal and coagulase-positive staphylococci. The normal skin organisms grew well in a pH range of 5-6, with the exception of the aerobic diphtheroids which failed to tolerate a pH of 5. The aerobic diphtheroids grow better in the presence of olive oil, sebum, oleic acid and linoleic acid. There was no antibiotic activity among 100 strains of skin organisms against a strain of coagulase-positive staphylococcus, Escherichia coli and a strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.