Streptomycin in the Treatment of Bacterial Endocarditis

Abstract

EXPERIENCE with streptomycin in the treatment of bacterial endocarditis is as yet limited. Hunter¹ discussed 18 cases and suggested that streptomycin is the drug of choice in endocarditis caused by gram-negative bacilli and penicillin-resistant, gram-positive cocci, and in infections that fail to respond to maximal penicillin treatment.The case reports that follow present features of bacteriologic and therapeutic interest. The causative organism in the first case was a gram-negative, anaerobic, non-spore forming bacillus (bacteroides), and in the second, a highly resistant alpha-hemolytic streptococcus.Case 1. J. P., a 46-year-old man, entered the hospital in November, 1946, with a 2-month history . . .