Burkholderia cepacia Complex Infections Among Cystic Fibrosis Patients: Perspectives and Challenges

Abstract

See, stats, and : https : / / www . researchgate . net / publication / 318401271 Burkholderia Infections Patients : Perspectives Challenges Chapter DOI : 10 . 5772 / 67712 CITATIONS 0 READS 32 5 , including : Some : M . Sc Jorge Technical 102 , 195 SEE Sílvia Technical 52 SEE All . The . Abstract The Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) is a group of closely related bacterial species that emerged in the 1980s as the etiological agents of severe and often lethal respiratory ­ infections­ among­ cystic­ fibrosis­ (CF) ­ patients . ­After­ several­ outbreaks­ in­ CF­ centers­ in­ Europe­ and­ North­ America , ­ segregation­ measures­ were­ introduced­ to­ avoid­ patient - to - patient­ transmission . ­ Presently , ­ the­ prevalence­ of­ Bcc­ infections­ among­ CF­ patients­ worldwide­is­below­5%­in­the­majority­of­CF­centers , ­although­exceptions­are­registered­ in­ some­ European­ countries . ­ Infections­ by­ these­ pathogens­ remain­ problematic­ due­ to­ the­ high­ resistance­ to­ antimicrobials , ­ the­ easy­ patient - to - patient­ transmission , ­ and­ the unpredictable outcome of infections that range from asymptomatic carriage to the ­ cepacia­syndrome , ­a­fulminating­pneumonia­often­associated­with­septicemia­that­can­ lead­to­the­decease­of­patients­within­a­period­of­time­as­short­as­1­week . ­In­this­chapter , ­ we­review­the­evolving­epidemiology­of­Bcc­infections­in­CF­patients , ­the­virulence­traits­ and­ mechanisms­ used­ by­ these­ bacteria , ­ and­ the­ recent­ developments­ in­ vaccine­ and­ ­ vaccine­components­research­to­prevent­Bcc­infections .