[The disposition and clearance of inhaled bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) in the lungs of piglets].

Retention in the lungs of 24 piglets of bacteria inhaled following exposure to an aerosol (dv(50)4 micron) of Staphylococcus aureus (SG511 strain), with clearance periods of differentiated lengths, is reported in this paper. Aerosol inhalation led to heterogeneous deposition patterns in the lung. The highest germ count per gram of lung tissue could be re-isolated from the base lobe, while the lowest germ count was retained in the apical lobe. Germ retention in the other lung lobes was somewhere in between these findings. Such differentiation was detectable as early as 20 minutes from the onset of aerosol application and continued to be largely stable even after clearance periods of 2 and 6 hours.