title: Widespread clone of Burkholderia cenocepacia in cystic fibrosis patients in the Czech Republic.
abstract: The morbidity and mortality rates in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are significantly affected by infections with Burkholderia cepacia complex. In a Czech CF Centre, the prevalence of the infection reached up to 30 %, with the majority of patients found to be infected with Burkholderia cenocepacia (formerly genomovar III of the Burkholderia cepacia complex). Since B. cenocepacia is associated with patient-to-patient transmission and epidemic outbreaks among CF patients, this study sought to examine the epidemiological relatedness between the Czech isolates belonging to the genomovar-homogeneous group. Eighty-three clinical isolates recovered from 67 CF patients were analysed using a random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assay and macrorestriction typing (SpeI and XbaI) followed by PFGE. A single predominant banding pattern shared by multiple isolates was detected, although SpeI-generated PFGE results yielded a higher rate of inter-pattern variability in comparison to the more uniform RAPD and XbaI-generated PFGE results for this clone. Both typing systems also showed that only three out of 67 patients harboured strains distinct from the major strain type. The dominant clone was characterized by PCR positivity for the B. cepacia epidemic strain marker, PCR negativity for the cable pilin subunit gene and close genetic relatedness to the epidemic strain of RAPD 01 type previously identified in Canada.
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Department, Charles University 2nd Medical School, Prague, Czech Republic 2Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Main Building, Museum Avenue, PO Box 915, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Drevinek
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Department, Charles University 2nd Medical School, Prague, Czech Republic 2Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Main Building, Museum Avenue, PO Box 915, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
authors.forename: Sarka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vosahlikova
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Department, Charles University 2nd Medical School, Prague, Czech Republic 2Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Main Building, Museum Avenue, PO Box 915, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
authors.forename: Ondrej
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cinek
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Department, Charles University 2nd Medical School, Prague, Czech Republic 2Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Main Building, Museum Avenue, PO Box 915, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vavrova
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Department, Charles University 2nd Medical School, Prague, Czech Republic 2Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Main Building, Museum Avenue, PO Box 915, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bartosova
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Department, Charles University 2nd Medical School, Prague, Czech Republic 2Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Main Building, Museum Avenue, PO Box 915, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pohunek
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Department, Charles University 2nd Medical School, Prague, Czech Republic 2Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Main Building, Museum Avenue, PO Box 915, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
authors.forename: Eshwar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mahenthiralingam
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019121:Burkholderia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D042602:Burkholderia cepacia complex / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D018153:Czech Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique