title: Emergence of respiratory Streptococcus agalactiae isolates in cystic fibrosis patients.
abstract: Streptococcus agalactiae is a well-known pathogen for neonates and immunocompromized adults. Beyond the neonatal period, S. agalactiae is rarely found in the respiratory tract. During 2002-2008 we noticed S. agalactiae in respiratory secretions of 30/185 (16%) of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. The median age of these patients was 3-6 years older than the median age CF patients not harboring S. agalactiae. To analyze, if the S. agalactiae isolates from CF patients were clonal, further characterization of the strains was achieved by capsular serotyping, surface protein determination and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). We found a variety of sequence types (ST) among the isolates, which did not substantially differ from the MLST patterns of colonizing strains from Germany. However serotype III, which is often seen in colonizing strains and invasive infections was rare among CF patients. The emergence of S. agalactiae in the respiratory tract of CF patients may represent the adaptation to a novel host environment, supported by the altered surfactant composition in older CF patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Med. Microbiology and Hygiene University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Eickel
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kahl
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reinisch
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dübbers
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Küster
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Spellerberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D013292:Streptococcus agalactiae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*