Bacteroides in Pelvic Abscesses

To the Editor: The article by Cunningham et al. (N Engl J Med 296:1380–1383, 1977) reported that pelvic abscesses were 10 times more common in women from whom Neisseria gonorrhoeae was not isolated. Studies of intra-abdominal infections and abscess formation have shown that peritonitis tends to be associated with aerobic organisms, whereas intra-abdominal abscesses demonstrate a predominance of anaerobic isolates.¹² Antibiotics effective against Bacteroides fragilis decrease the incidence of intra-abdominal abscess formation, whereas drugs effective against enterococci and coliform organisms have a minimal effect on the incidence of intra-abdominal abscess formation.³ Bacteroides has been shown to be absent⁴ or, as. No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.