Studies with Staphylococcus Bacteriophage I. The Preparation of Polyvalent Staphylococcus Bacteriophage *

The preparation of staphylococcus bacteriophage for investigative purposes and for clinical use is being carried out in many research and commercial laboratories. The reports from these various sources regarding the results obtained with such preparations are far from uniform. Among the reasons for such discordant results is the fact that a method leading to the preparation of a potent bacteriophage is not generally followed. Thus, when the result of therapeutic application is disappointing, the basic principle is assumed to be faulty. In reality in many cases what is supposed to be bacteriophage is a preparation no more effective than nutrient broth as far as lytic action is concerned. This fact may account for some of the differences in the results reported by clinicians. The problem of bacteriophagy and especially the-preparation of staphylococcus bacteriophage is not a simple one; it is as important to study the organism as it is the action of the bacteriophage. Furthermore, all strains of bacteria are not suitable for the production of bacteriophage for clinical use. In view of the importance of making use, in clinical studies, of potent preparations, it is deemed advisable to report the method of preparing staphylococcus bacteriophage in this laboratory, and some of the phenomena observed in its preparation. This method is, in general, the one which is employed in Le Laboratoire du Bacteriophage by d'Herelle and his assistants Sertic and Bulgakov.