EPIDEMIOLOGY OF PSEUDOMONAS-AERUGINOSA IN CYSTIC-FIBROSIS AND THE POSSIBLE ROLE OF CONTAMINATION BY DENTAL EQUIPMENT

Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients often suffer from Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection yet the source of this organism is not known. In order to determine whether CF patients might be contaminated with P. aerugi nosa from dental equipment, a total of 103 water samples from 25 denta l sessions in Frederiksberg Municipal Oral Health Care Service were ex amined. Three samples (2.9%) were positive for P. aeruginosa. Three hu ndred and twenty-seven water samples from 82 dental sessions from vari ous other Municipal Oral Health Services in Denmark, attended by CF pa tients, were also examined. Eighteen of 327 samples (5.5%) from nine s essions (11%) were positive for P. aeruginosa. In one case, genotypica lly identical (RFLP, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) P. aeruginosa s trains were found both in water from the dental equipment and in the C F patients' sputum. This indicates a small risk for acquiring P. aerug inosa from dental sessions, which is however equal to the yearly 'natu ral background' Incidence (1-2%) of acquisition of P. aeruginosa in ou r CF centre.