The isolation of Streptococcus pneumoniae from bile.

Streptococcus pneumoniae was isolated from the bile of two previously healthy adults presenting with extrahepatic obstructive jaundice. The organism was recovered on two occasions from both patients over periods of at least 10 days indicating established biliary colonisation and at the time of surgery pneumococci were present at multiple sites throughout the biliary tract. In one patient, pneumococcal cellulitis necessitating treatment with benzyl penicillin arose post-operatively at the exit site of an external biliary drainage tube. Both strains of pneumococci exhibited typical colonial and microscopical morphology. They were susceptible to optochin and demonstrated typical solubility in normal human and ox bile as well as in solutions of sodium deoxycholate and sodium taurocholate.