title: Yakult: a role in combating multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa?
abstract: Presence of extremely drug resistant metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL VIM) Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a patient presenting with 54% deep-dermal and full-thickness flame burns to her neck, chest, upper abdomen and upper limbs, appeared to coincide with wound breakdown and non-healing. This organism was also seen to colonise the patient's gastrointestinal tract, which was thought to act as a reservoir for re-infection of her wounds. Oral treatment with a probiotic drink (Yakult yoghurt) was commenced in order to alter gut flora. Two weeks after this regimen began, P. aeruginosa grown from wound swabs was seen to change from multi-drug resistant to multi-drug sensitive strains. This change persisted through to patient discharge home from hospital. The temporal relationship seen between commencement of once-daily probiotic and change of the organism from multi-drug resistant to multi-drug sensitive suggests that this may have been an effective intervention.
authors: Burns Unit, University Hospital of South Manchester, Manchester, UK. collettethomson@hotmail.com
authors: C H
authors: CH
authors: Thomson
authors: I
authors: I
authors: Hassan
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Dunn
mesh_terms: D002056:Burns / Q000382:microbiology*; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D019936:Probiotics; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000628:therapy*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D015014:Yogurt; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: C409201:beta-lactamase IMP-1; D001618:beta-Lactamases