Infection with transmissible strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and clinical outcomes in adults with cystic fibrosis.

Context: Studies from Australia and the United Kingdom have shown that some patients with cystic fibrosis are infected with common transmissible strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and incidence of infection with transmissible strains of P. aeruginosa and whether presence of the organism was associated with adverse clinical outcomes in Canada.

Characterization of clonal strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from cystic fibrosis patients in Ontario, Canada.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that can form biofilms in the lungs and airways of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, resulting in chronic endobronchial infection. Two clonal strains of P. aeruginosa, named type A and type B, have recently been identified and have been found to infect more than 20% of CF patients in Ontario, Canada.