Upper Respiratory Flora of Husbands and Wives

Abstract

IF contact alone were the determining factor in upper respiratory flora, one would expect that married couples would in general carry the same kinds of bacteria. One would further expect that when an unusual organism was present in one member of a pair, it would be present at the same time in the other member. In the course of a study of normal families we have had the opportunity to observe the throat and nose flora of 75 married couples. Contrary to expectation there were differences in their bacterial population that we consider significant.MethodThe method of culturing has . . .