[Molecular typification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from patients with cystic fibrosis].

Cystic fibrosis is the most frequent lethal genetic disease that affects the caucasian population. The main cause of morbidity is the chronic lung infection, being the infection caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa the most difficult to eradicate. This bacteria can be acquired in direct form, by person-to-person transfer, or indirectly, by hospital acquired infection. The Centro Provincial de Referencia de Fibrosis Quistica functioning in the Hospital de Niños "Sor María Ludovica", in La Plata, cares almost 220 patients aged two months to 45 years. The life expectancy depends of factors like the early diagnosis of the disease and the later acquisition of the chronic lung infection. The purpose of this work was the molecular typing of P. aeruginosa isolates obtained from cystic fibrosis patients to evaluate the genomic relationship among them. The study was carried out using RAPD-PCR. The analysis showed a great genetic heterogeneity among the isolates. The separation of the patients in groups in accordance with its bacteriology, that implies the attendance in different days and the implementation of isolation (or segregation) measures had demonstrated to be, in addition to other strategies, effective in the reduction of cross infections.