Multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas is one of the most serious
and difficult hospital-acquired infections to treat and affects patients with
ventilator-associated pneumonia, cystic fibrosis, low white cell counts, burns and
diabetic ulcers.
The genus Pseudomonas contains more than 140 species, most
of which are saprophytic. More than 25 species are associated with humans. Most
pseudomonads known to cause disease in humans are associated with opportunistic
infections. These include P aeruginosa, P fluorescens, P putida, P cepacia, P stutzeri, P
maltophilia, and P putrefaciens. Only two species, P mallei and P pseudomallei, produce
specific human diseases: glanders and melioidosis. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and P
maltophilia account for approximately 80 percent of pseudomonads recovered from clinical
specimens. Because of the frequency with which it is involved in human disease, P
aeruginosa has received the most attention. It is a ubiquitous free-living bacterium and
is found in most moist environments. Although it seldom causes disease in healthy
individuals, it is a major threat to hospitalized patients, particularly those with
serious underlying diseases such as cancer and burns. The high mortality associated with
these infections is due to a combination of weakened host defenses, bacterial resistance
to antibiotics, and the production of extracellular bacterial enzymes and toxins.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes various diseases (Fig. 27-1).
Localized infection following surgery or burns commonly results in a generalized and
frequently fatal bacteremia. Urinary tract infections following introduction of P
aeruginosa on catheters or in irrigating solutions are not uncommon. Furthermore,
most cystic fibrosis patients are chronically colonized with P aeruginosa. Interestingly,
cystic fibrosis patients rarely have P aeruginosa bacteremia, probably because of high
levels of circulating P aeruginosa antibodies. However, most cystic fibrosis patients
ultimately die of localized P aeruginosa infections. Necrotizing P aeruginosa
pneumonia may occur in other patients following the use of contaminated respirators.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa can cause severe corneal infections following eye surgery or
injury. It is found in pure culture, especially in children with middle ear infections. It
occasionally causes meningitis following lumbar puncture and endocarditis following
cardiac surgery. It has been associated with some diarrheal disease episodes. Since the
first reported case of P aeruginosa infection in 1890, the organism has been
increasingly associated with bacteremia and currently accounts for 15 percent of cases of
Gram-negative bacteremia. The overall mortality associated with P aeruginosa
bacteremia is about 50 percent. Some infections (e.g., eye and ear infections) remain
localized; others, such as wound and burn infections and infections in leukemia and
lymphoma patients, result in sepsis. The difference is most probably due to altered host
defenses.
Phage Therapy for Treating Pseudomonas Infections
Phage Therapy
Center
Phage Therapy Center treats antibiotic-resistant infections. [More information...]
Additional Information About Phage Therapy for this Condition
Eliava Institute
List of Bacteriophages
Hirzfield Institute of Immunology and Virology
Efficacy of Phage Therapy - Clinical Trials
BMC Microbiology
Dynamics of
success and failure in phage and antibiotic therapy in experimental infections
Hirzfield Institute of Immunology and Virology
THERAPY
OF INFECTIONS IN CANCER PATIENTS WITH BACTERIOPHAGES
Evergreen State College
Phage Therapy as Antibiotics
March
2000 Addendum
Archivum Immunologiae Therapie Experimentalis
Phage Therapy:
Past History and Future Prospects
Antimicrobal Agents and Chemotherapy
Phage
Therapy
The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2003
Experimental Protection of Mice against Lethal Staphylococcus
aureus Infection by Novel Bacteriophage  MR11
A series of rigorous studies into phage therapy by Smith et
al. in the 1980s made a significant contribution that led to
reevaluation of phage efficacy against infections of E. coli,
Acinetobacter baumanii , Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella
species, Lactococcus garvieae, and Enterococcus faecium in
animal models or in natural animal targets of these virulent
microbes. These, together with the present study, support the potential
of phage therapy against various bacterial infectious diseases; in
fact, successful treatment for humans has been reportedly achieved
in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
Journal of Assoc Physicians India
Bacteriophage therapy: an alternative to conventional antibiotics
Medical Information
Pseudomonas Genome Project
Pseudomonas
aeruginosa
Textbook of Bacteriology
Pseudomonas
aeruginosa
Thorax
Cross
infection of cystic fibrosis patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa
eMedicine
Pseudomonas
Aeruginosa Infections
Antimicrobal Agents and Chemotherapy
Emergence of antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa:
comparison of risks associated with different antipseudomonal agents
CDC
Endemic
Carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa with Acquired Metallo- -lactamase Determinants in
European Hospital
The University of Michigan
An Overview
of Thug Bugs |
