Maintenance treatment of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in cystic fibrosis

Thirty years ago Staphylococcus aureus and not Pseudomonas aeruginosa was considered to be the most important lung pathogen in cystic fibrosis. 1 Those who believed that P aeruginosa was a pathogen in cystic fibrosis thought that various virulence factors such as exotoxin A, exoenzyme S, elastase, alkaline protease, phospholipase C, lipopolysaccharide and phenazine pigments were responsible for the lung tissue damage by drawing parallels with acute P aeruginosa infections in patients with burns or leukaemia. 2 Only acute exacerbations, frequently caused by a virus, 3 were therefore treated with antibiotics, although invasive disseminating P aeruginosa infection on August 19, 2023 by guest.