Prevention of suicide phenomenon in aeromonads.

Clinical isolates of Aeromonas (13 Aeromonas caviae), 8 Aeromonas hydrophila, 3 Aeromonas spp., and 2 Aeromonas media recovered from diarrheal feces of children were submitted to the suicide phenomenon test and investigated at intervals of 24 h for up to 120 h. The same isolates were also stimulated by repeated passages in broth for ten days before the test. After the bacterial stimulus, a decreases in the number of aeromonads with suicidal capacity was observed. The suicide phenomenon was expressed after 72 h of incubation in only some isolates. The results show that the suicide phenomenon can be prevented by stimulation of bacterial metabolism.