The Staphylococci of the Human Vagina *

Staphylococci of the albus and aureus varieties have long been known to inhabit the human vaginal tract in health as well as in disease, and various roles have been attributed to them in the causation of certain types of disease of the female genitalia. Thus, Staphylococcus aureus of the vagina has been considered the causative agent in some cases of puerperal fever, but on the whole these organisms are regarded as common inhabitants and are thought to be rarely, if ever, concerned as the direct cause of disturbances in this region. In a survey of the vaginal flora of a large number of individuals it has been observed8 that staphylococci were very frequently present; the great majority being of the albus type. However, Staphylococcus aureus was found with some frequency, the large majority of isolations being from pregnant individuals. Since none of these cases suffered puerperal complications, the pathogenicity of the strains isolated seemed doubtful, although the possibility that the organisms may have been pathogenic and the patients who harbored them were immune was, of course, conceivable. An attempt to ascertain, by certain cultural methods, the degree of pathogenicity of such strains has been made in another large group of individuals. Chapman and his co-workers" 2'3 4 have proposed a number of methods for the cultural determination of the potential pathogenicity of the staphylococci. These procedures involve the use of speaal media on which virulent strains yield reactions rarely given by nonpathogenic varieties. Chapman has compared these methods with animal inoculation tests and reports that the cultural tests seem to be 98 per cent reliable for determination of pathogenicity. These procedures have up to now been applied only to those cocci isolated from the nose, throat, and conjunctiva. It was the purpose of the work reported here to examine vaginal secretions to determine the percentage harboring staphylococci and to ascertain whether any relationship exists between the presence of