Tetanus from Sulfonamide Dusting Powders. Development in Guinea Pigs Treated with Sulfanilamide Powder Contaminated with Washed Tetanus Spores.

The wide use of sulfonamide dusting powders for the treatment of war injuries caused the Food and Drug Administration to make an intensive study of the bacteriologic flora of the preparations on the market. Approximately 50 per cent of the powders examined by us contained viable bacteria, namely staphylococci, streptococci, diphtheroids and both aerobic and anaerobic spore forming organisms. 1 It was of interest that a large number of powders examined, although not sterilized following manufacture, were found to be sterile. Those sulfonamide powders examined which had been processed in the final package to destroy organisms that may have been present were invariably found to be sterile. Following these studies the Food and Drug Administration issued a letter requesting that manufacturers of sulfonamide drugs promptly take the steps necessary to sterilize these drugs and to package them so as to prevent contamination. Recent examinations made of sulfonamide powders have indicated