UPDATE ON PAN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF ANAEROBES - CANADA

During the past 15 years, important contributions have been made to th e field of anaerobes in Canada, Studies on the importance of the intes tinal flora as a source of vitamin K for humans, investigations of the mechanisms of synergy in polymicrobial infections, and extensive rese arch on the field of immunocompetence of surgical patients have provid ed interesting and valuable information, Several clinical and epidemio logical studies of anaerobic infections have been carried out, Rapid m ethods have been developed for the identification and susceptibility t esting of clinical isolates. National and regional surveys have been c onducted on the susceptibility patterns of the Bacteroides fragilis gr oup. Studies on the mechanism of action of metronidazole and on the me chanisms of resistance of Bacteroides species have also been carried o ut, The Canadian Infectious Disease Society has published position pap ers on therapy with cefotetan, ceftizoxime, and imipenem and on antimi crobial prophylaxis in surgical patients.