Transmissibility of Pseudomonas cepacia Infection in Clinic Patients and Lung-Transplant Recipients with Cystic Fibrosis

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 331; no. 15; pp. 981 - 987
• Main Authors: Steinbach, Suzanne, Sun, Li, Jiang, Ru-Zhang, Flume, Patrick, Gilligan, Peter, Egan, Thomas M, Goldstein, Richard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 13.10.1994
• Subjects: Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the respiratory system; Bacterial Typing Techniques; Biological and medical sciences; Burkholderia cepacia - classification; Burkholderia cepacia - genetics; Burkholderia cepacia - isolation & purification; Cloning; Cystic fibrosis; Cystic Fibrosis - microbiology; Cystic Fibrosis - surgery; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Disseminated infection; DNA; DNA, Bacterial - analysis; DNA, Ribosomal; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; Fingerprinting; Gel electrophoresis; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Hybridization; Infections; Infectious diseases; Laboratories; Lung Diseases - microbiology; Lung transplantation; Lung Transplantation - methods; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Patients; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; Pseudomonas; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas cepacia; Pseudomonas Infections - microbiology; Pseudomonas Infections - transmission; Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; Ribotyping; rRNA Operon; Transplantation; Transplants & implants; Typing; Pseudomonadales; Human; Postoperative; Lung disease; Pneumonia; Genetic inheritance; Respiratory disease; Lung; Transplantation; Homotransplantation; Genetic disease; Infection; Mucoviscidosis; Treatment; Pseudomonas cepacia; Immunological investigation; Surgery; Bacteriosis; Digestive diseases; Bacteria; Pseudomonadaceae; Complication; Pancreatic disease
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199410133311504

Infection with Pseudomonas (Burkholderia) cepacia in patients with cystic fibrosis greatly increases morbidity. For a substantial percentage of those who acquire the organism, there is a markedly accelerated course ending in death. The rapid increase in P. cepacia pulmonary infection 1 and sepsis 2 among those with cystic fibrosis, combined with molecular epidemiologic evidence 3 – 5 and the subsequent efficacy of infection-control measures, 6 suggests epidemic spread 2 . Most commonly, P. cepacia infects patients with cystic fibrosis after a lengthy colonization by P. aeruginosa 2 . The patients most likely to be affected are among those with severe respiratory impairment, who are considered for lung . . .