Clostridia in Gas Gangrene

Clostridium perfringens Epsilon Toxin: A Malevolent Molecule for Animals and Man?

“…Type A strains of C. perfringens are most commonly found throughout the environment and linked to gas gangrene of animals and humans [ 1 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Alpha toxin facilitates gas gangrene due to C. perfringens infection, a life-threatening myonecrotic disease historically common with battlefield wounds [ 11 , 12 ].…”

The Histotoxic Clostridial Infections of Man 12

“…Clostridium novyi Although C. novyi was one of the earliest pathogenic anaerobes to be isolated and clearly defined (Novy (770)), it proved so difficult to grow, and still more to obtain in pure culture, that its significance in gas gangrene was long thought to be slight. Even in World War I it attracted little attention, despite the fact that two of the most important groups of investigators found it (under the name of Clostridium oedematiens) in from 30 to 40% of all cases (700, 1062), but since then its relative importance has increased enormously and today it is rightly recognized as a most important cause of gas gangrene in man (636,637,946,953,972,973,1091,1092) and of a number of severe infections in domestic animals (12,555,556,951,1020,1094).…”

Prophylaxis of Experimental Gas Gangrene in Mice

“…The relative inefficiency of systemic penicillin against infections that are localized in necrotic tissue has been theorized upon by other authors (Jeffrey, 1943;Rammelkamp and Keefer, 1943;Smith, 1949), and the data shown in group C, tables 1 to 3, illustrate the effect when the prophylactic dose is administered at a site other than that of the initial infection. Group D, tables 1 to 3, shows the effects of increasing the dosage 2-fold on these infections.…”

“…The failure of systemic penicillin given at a site other than that of the infection has been noted in previous experiments on animals by the authors and by Hac'(1944). The lack of complete protection afforded by penicillin in the therapy of clinical cases of gas gangrene has been explained as a matter of nonpenetration of systemically administered penicillin into local necrotic areas not being serviced by the blood (Smith, 1949).…”