Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Nonmucoid gram-negative Pseudomonas rods can readily be observed in cystic fibrosis patients' smears stained by the PATS reaction

1991; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 49; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0424820100085642

2690-1315

B. Giammara, Roy L. Hopfer, Jacob S. Hanker,

Biosensors and Analytical Detection

Cystic fibrosis(CF) is responsible for much of the chronic pulmonary disease seen in children. Progressive pulmonary insufficiency accompanied by respiratory tract infection is the cause of death in 90% of CF patients. Although gram-positive staphylococci were responsible for most of these pulmonary infections prior to 1960, gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) colonization is now the major cause of the progressive pulmonary disease responsible for the morbidity and mortality in CF patients. Sputum has long been used for cultural purposes for CF patient evaluation. It has not been a good source for Gram stain specimens inasmuch as large numbers of deep blue gram-positive bacteria (Fig. 1) can overlie and mask the smaller numbers of pink or red rods such as PA which are being sought in the stained smear.