EVIDENCE FOR TRANSMISSION OF PSEUDOMONAS-CEPACIA BY SOCIAL CONTACT INCYSTIC-FIBROSIS

Pulmonary colonisation with Pseudomonas cepacia in patients with cysti c fibrosis can be associated with increased morbidity and mortality. T he modes of transmission of P cepacia are, however, unclear. We used s elective media and phenotypic and genomic typing systems to investigat e the acquisition of P cepacia by adults with cystic fibrosis. An anal ysis of isolates from 210 patients attending regional clinics in Edinb urgh and Manchester between 1986 and 1992 showed that the main cause o f increased isolations of P cepacia from 1989 was the emergence of an epidemic strain that had spread between patients in both clinics. Epid emiological evidence indicated that social contact was important in sp read of the epidemic strain within and between clinics. We suggest tha t guidelines to limit the acquisition of P cepacia should not be restr icted to patients in hospital, and that intimate or frequent social co ntact is associated with a high risk of cross-infection.