Isolation frequency of Burkholderia cepacia from cystic fibrosis patients

: Microorganisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Haemophilus influenzae frequently cause colonization and infection in airways of patients with cystic fibrosis. Burkholderia cepacia has also been isolated in patients with cystic fibrosis since 1980. In this study, we aimed to determine the colonization rate of B. cepacia in 286 sputum samples obtained from 129 cystic fibrosis patients. Selective media for B. cepacia were used besides the routine microbiological media in order to increase the isolation rate. The colonies were identified by biochemical tests and the antibiotic susceptibilities of the strains were determined by disc diffusion method. Pathogenic bacteria (S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, Enterobacteriaceae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, H. influenzae) were isolated in 52 of 129 patients (40%) and 66 of 286 sputum samples (23%). In addition 2 B. cepacia strains were isolated from two different patients (1.55%). B. cepacia is now being considered as a pathogen isolated from sputum samples of patients with cystic fibrosis with an increasing frequency and causing severe clinical features. According to these results it can be concluded that, the use of selective media for B. cepacia isolation, should be taken into consideration especially by the clinical microbiology laboratories collaborating with the cystic fibrosis centers.