Evidence of Coinfection with Distinct Strains of Burkholderia multivorans in a Cystic Fibrosis Patient

Abstract

We report a Cystic Fibrosis patient with chronic Burkholderia multivorans infection involving persistency of one strain and temporary, consecutive coinfection with two different strains. Comparison of the colony morphology with the genotype revealed no correlation. These data are important for interpretation of clinical outcome and transmission studies in CF patients.

Direct Culture-Independent Strain Typing of Burkholderia cepacia Complex in Sputum Samples from Patients with Cystic Fibrosis

“…While this may have indicated that the ST482 strain was the more predominant strain from the pair, neither strain persisted and caused chronic infection, as 5 subsequent samples collected over the period of 1 year were BCC free (data not shown). Although coinfection and strain replacement with different BCC species have been previously demonstrated in CF (2,14,15), such studies required the cultivation and purification of each strain present, which may not always be possible if the colonial morphology of each isolate is not discriminatory. Direct MLST as described here enabled the detection of mixed BCC populations in an analysis without the need for strain separation.…”

Detection of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Clinical Specimens from Cystic Fibrosis Patients by Use of Chromogenic Selective Agar

“…The presence of distinct clones of the same species coinhabiting the lungs of CF patients has been described (18,19). In the first few years of life, MSSA is thought to be the primary invader, MSSA and MRSA can coexist for some time, and care should be taken when analyzing sputum cultures because the growth of one microorganism may camouflage the growth of the other.…”