Effect of a Vacuum on Destruction of Bacteria by Germicides

Abstract

The above data do not refer in any regard to the etiology of the toxemia, but do suggest that those patients who develop convulsions (eclampsia) in the course of their toxemia may have a primary cerebral dysrhythmia.It may be inferred from the preceding that a careful history together with an electroencephalogram may be of great importance in determining those patients who may develop eclampsia. Furthermore, it is apparent that the proper therapy of eclampsia and pre-eclampsia may include those m-easures generally employed in the treatment of cerebral dysrhythniia. In accord with this, studies are now in progress to elucidate the action of dilantin and other anticonvulsants in the eclamptic and pre-eclamptic states.Seventy-seven percent of 17 eclamptic women had electroencephalograms indicative of cerebral dysrhythniia. Fiftyeight percent of this series gave a family history of convulsive disorders. Summary.The presence of a vacuum was found to have no effect on the destruction of bacteria by germicides. Regardless of whether the organisms were mixed with the germicidal dilutions and kept at atmospheric conditions or placed under a vacuum, the final results were the same.Entirely different results were obtained, however, when gaseous germicides were employed. Tests carried out over a period of about 15 years have shown that the efficiency of the gases was greatly increased in the presence of a vacuum. In fact, under certain conditions organisms could not be destroyed unless a vacuum was employed.Experinzenfnl. The gases which were tested included formaldehyde, methyl bromide, methyl formate, ethylene oxide, and carbon disulfide. With the exception of formaldehyde no one of the gases effected a sterilization after an exposure period of 2 hours. These non-germicidal gases are important for the destruction of insects

Surface Decontamination in an Autoclave Chamber with Formaldehyde Gas

“…The use of formaldehyde gas for surface sterilization of heat-labile items has been shown to be extremely effective (1,2). Ethylene oxide gas is more frequently used even though it requires a complex system, is dangerous, may damage plastics, and is not vere reliable if all surfaces are not exposed to the gas.…”

Effect of Moisture on Ethylene Oxide Sterilization1

“…Phillips and Kaye (1949) published a review on this subject, but at the time the technique had few applications. That ethylene oxide is bactericidal in the vapor state was then relatively unknown, even though several patents and a number of papers had been published on the subject (Gross and Dixon, 1937; Griffith and Hall, 1940;Yesair and Williams, 1942; Velu, Lepigne, and Bellocq, 1942;Salle and Korzenovsky, 1942). Almost all applications had been in treating dry foodstuffs, particularly spices.…”