International journal of medical microbiology : IJMM
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Int. J. Med. Microbiol. · Nov 2001
Epidemiology of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in cystic fibrosis.
Chronic lung infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa is primarily responsible for pulmonary deterioration of cystic fibrosis patients. The purpose of this study was to type the P. aeruginosa isolates collected sequentially from cystic fibrosis patients, chronically colonized with P. aeruginosa, by random amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting-PCR (RAPD-PCR). Sequential P. aeruginosa isolates (n: 130) that had been collected from 20 CF patients over at least 9 years were investigated. ⋯ Some CF patients were colonized with a rather constant P. aeruginosa flora, with strains of different phenotypes but of one genotype. However, some patients may be colonized with more than one genotype. The results also demonstrated that there might be a risk of cross-colonization between CF patients followed-up at the same center.