SURVIVAL OF BURKHOLDERIA-CEPACIA ON ENVIRONMENTAL SURFACES

Burkholderia (Pseudomonas) cepacia is an important pathogen amongst pe rsons with cystic fibrosis (CF), and evidence suggests that transmissi on of strains within CF clinics contributes to pulmonary colonization of some patients. In order to optimize preventive strategies, the surv ival of B. cepacia on various environmental surfaces, including cotton cloth, stainless steel, latex and polyvinylchloride (PVC) tubing, was investigated. For surface inoculation, bacteria were suspended in pho sphate buffered saline, sputum from CF patients, or sputum from person s without CF. The results demonstrate that amongst the strains examine d, organisms survived significantly (P < 0.001) longer when suspended in sputum from CF patients than in either non-CF sputum or buffered sa line. Significant (P < 0.001) differences in survival on the various s urfaces were found; survival was greatest on PVC. Significant (P < 0.0 01) strain-to-strain differences in survival were also demonstrated; p atient isolates representing predominant CF centre ribotypes survived longest. These data demonstrate that (1) B. cepacia can survive for lo ng periods in respiratory droplets on environmental surfaces typically found in CF clinics, (2) undefined factors in sputum from patients wi th CF may contribute to survival of B. cepacia, and (3) strain-to-stra in variation in survival time may affect strain transmissibility.