Variation of the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of Burkholderia cepacia complex clonal isolates obtained from chronically infected cystic fibrosis patients: a five-year survey in the major Portuguese treatment center.

The treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients chronically infected with Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) bacteria requires extensive and aggressive antibiotics therapy, exposing these bacteria to prolonged antibiotics-selective pressure. In the present study, we have compared the susceptibility patterns to 13 antimicrobials of 94 Bcc isolates obtained from 15 Portuguese CF patients in the course of chronic infection during a five-year survey. These isolates were previously genotyped and represent 11 different strains of the species B. cenocepacia (subgroups A and B), B. cepacia, B. multivorans, and B. stabilis. The results are consistent with the notion that CF Bcc isolates are resistant to the most clinically relevant antimicrobials and suggest an uneven distribution of resistance rates among the different species, with B. cenocepacia subgroup A isolates being the most resistant. Phenotypic variants exhibiting differences in the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were obtained from the sputum samples of clinically deteriorated CF patients during chronic lung infection. The isolation of resistant variants coincided with periods of pulmonary exacerbation and antibiotics therapy.