A. Agodi et al., Burkholderia cepacia complex infection in Italian patients with cystic fibrosis: Prevalence, epidemiology, and genomovar status, J CLIN MICR, 39(8), 2001, pp. 2891-2896
The prevalence, epidemiology, and genomovar status of Burkholderia cepacia
complex strains recovered from Italian cystic fibrosis (CF) patients were i
nvestigated using genetic typing and species identification methods. Four C
F treatment centers were examined: two in Sicily, one in central Italy, and
one in northern Italy. B. cepacia complex bacteria were isolated from 59 o
ut of 683 CF patients attending these centers (8.6%). For the two geographi
cally related treatment centers in Sicily, there was a high incidence of in
fection caused by a single epidemic clone possessing the cbLA gene and belo
nging to B. cepacia genomovar III, recA group III-A, closely related to the
major North America-United Kingdom clone, ET12; instability of the cblA se
quence was also demonstrated for clonal isolates. In summary, of all the st
rains of B. cepacia encountered in the Italian CF population, the genomovar
III, recA group III-A strains were the most prevalent and transmissible. H
owever, patient-to-patient spread was also observed with several other geno
movars, including strains of novel taxonomic status within the B. cepacia c
omplex. A combination of genetic identification and molecular typing analys
is is recommended to fully define specific risks posed by the genomovar sta
tus of strains within the B. cepacia complex.