Introduction
The proved effectiveness of methicillin in infections caused by penicillinase-producing staphylococci has stimulated interest in the development of a similar antibiotic which could be administered orally. One of these, oxacillin, has already demonstrated its usefulness.1,2 Another, sodium diphenicillin (sodium 2-biphenylylpenicillin), has recently been made available for clinical trials after preliminary study in the laboratory.3 We have treated 28 infections caused by penicillinase-producing staphylococci, one caused by Staphylococcus albus, and one case of endocarditis caused by a β-hemolytic Streptococcus with this compound, and have in addition carried out a detailed study of the rate of disappearance of staphylococci from the lesions of the treated patients. It is the purpose of this paper to report these studies.
Materials and Methods
Case Material.—
The 30 cases in this series were chosen because they harbored serious infections. All patients were seen daily by a member of the Infactious Disease Service. Only