[Anaerobic and aerobic flora of the normal urethra (author's transl)].

The bacterial flora of the normal urethra, especially anaerobic flora, has been poorly documented. In this paper the aerobic and anaerobic flora of the normal urethra was studied. Aerobes were isolated in 100% of 178 urethras. 21 % of the aerobes were gram negative bacilli. Anaerobes were isolated in 48% of 100 male urethras and 45% of 78 female urethras. Multiple strains of anaerobes were found. Peptococcus (32%) (P. anaerobius, P. asaccharolyticus), Corynebacterium (19%) (C. avidum, C. liquefaciens), Bacteroides (17%) (B. fragilis) and Peptostreptococcus (16%) (P. magnus) were the most predominant anaerobes. When examined immediately after micturition, the bacterial count was found to be reduced fairly, but this reduction was recovered in 2 hrs. almost completely. The bacterial cultivation carried out on consecutive days showed spontaneous variations in the count and species of aerobic as well as anaerobic bacterial flora of the urethra. The antibiotics susceptibility test of these anaerobic strains was also performed. It is the author's opinion that the studies on anaerobic urinary infections should be based on the studies of normal anaerobic flora.