The treatment of pulmonary infection in cystic fibrosis.

The survival of cystic fibrosis patients has improved through an aggressive, multidisciplinary approach to the therapy of pulmonary sepsis. Intravenous antibiotics play a major role in the care of cystic fibrosis patients, even though it is not possible to achieve persistent bacterial eradication due to the complex microbiology and pathology of these patients. The most important pathogen in older patients is Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The increasing incidence of Pseudomonas cepacia, strains of which can be highly resistant to many antibiotics, also represents an important challenge to the efficacy of antibiotic therapy. Choice of appropriate antimicrobial therapy is hampered by the fact that a single patient may harbour several different pseudomonas phenotypes with variable resistance patterns. Carbapenem antibiotics possess a wide range of activity against most Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and are therefore a useful addition to the antimicrobial armamentarium available to the clinician. The new carbapenem meropenem is well tolerated at high doses by both children and adults. Results from a comparative trial against ceftazidime suggests that meropenem has a place in the management of cystic fibrosis.